The Matrix: Revelations
by beeftony
Summary: KiGo Kim discovers that she has been living in a dream world her entire life, and that she is the only one who can maintain the peace between the humans and the machines. She also finds herself feeling more than hate for her former archenemy. ABANDONED
1. Prologue

_Kim Possible, Ron Stoppable, and all related characters are the property of the Disney Company. I own this work of fiction. I make no profit from this.  
_

_**The Matrix**__ is the property of Warner Brothers, © the Wachowski brothers._

**The Matrix: Revelations**

**Prologue**

Ring! The sound of a phone pierced the silence of the dark room. Quiet feet made no sound as they treaded over to the cause of the disturbance.

Ring! The phone sounded for a second time. A hand reached down and gently removed it from the receiver.

"Hello?"

"You're in danger."

"Yeah, thanks for the tip. I already picked up the agents on the scanner. And why is that the only reason you ever call me? Can't you just call to say 'what's up?'"

"We don't have time for small talk. You need to get out of the lair now."

"Already got my escape pod ready. Just gotta wake up Dr. D."

"There's no time. Leave him."

"But the mission—"

"Forget about that. He's no longer important. You have to get out of there before those agents find you and kill you."

Sigh. "It's been a long time since I've stared down the barrel of a gun. Almost ten years, in fact."

"You still remember your training?"

"Yeah. I'm not gonna use lethal force unless I have to. Not that they can die anyway."

"Just focus, Shego. You have to make it out. Otherwise we may never get her."

"Gotcha."

Beep!

"What was that?"

"What was what?"

"You're sure this line is clean?"

"I never said it was. You have your orders, Shego. There's an exit at a payphone just outside the lair. Now go."

Click.

'_Now to get the hell out of here,_' Shego thought.

Bam! The impact was so great it left a fist-shaped indent in the thick metal door. Shego knew that she should probably leave like the man on the other end of the line had said, but she was still concerned about Drakken. He didn't deserve what was about to happen.

Bam! Shego took that as her cue to start moving. The agents would penetrate at any moment and then she would be left without a chance to escape. She had to get Drakken out of there.

The lock to Drakken's door was easy enough to unlock by punching in a code, but Shego didn't have time for that. Igniting her hand, she drove her fist through the control panel, shorting it out and causing the heavy blast door to open. She hurried inside.

The blue man was laying there sleeping like a baby, sucking on his thumb and clutching his teddy bear close to his chest. Shego rolled her eyes at how a man old enough to be her father could still be such a child. It hadn't been her choice to work with him. She was just doing her job. Still, she had grown somewhat fond of the blue guy, at least enough to not want to watch him die. Perhaps if she could free him….

Bam! Shego snapped out of her daze and rushed over to the bed, shaking the blue doctor awake.

"Huh, wha? Five more minutes, mommy!" the mad scientist groaned.

"Drakken, get up!" Shego yelled angrily.

"Wha?" Drakken sat up, focusing his attention on the green lady who was now glowering at him. "Shego! What have I told you about waking me up?"

"Dr. D, we don't have time for that!" Shego exhorted with a look of madness in her green eyes. "We need to get out of here _now_!"

"Shego, I told you not to drink so much coffee before you went to bed," Drakken said, still not getting why his henchwoman was so riled.

"Dr. D, we need to get the hell out of here! They're coming!" Shego grabbed the blue doctor's hand and began to tug.

"Who's coming?"

BAM! THUD! The entrance to the lair had no doubt come crashing down.

Shego closed her eyes. "Shit," she whispered.

The unmistakable sound of loafers echoed across the stone floor of the lair, an eerie mechanical rhythm accompanying every step. They were getting closer. Giving a hand signal to Drakken to keep quiet, Shego slowly turned around.

Three men in black suits now stood in the doorway. Although it was dark, each of them still wore a pair of tinted sunglasses. A clear earpiece hung from each agent's ear, allowing them to communicate with each other. The middle agent spoke.

"It's her."

The agent on the left spoke next. "One of the anomalies."

"Do we proceed?" asked the agent on the right.

"Yes," lefty answered.

"After all, she is—" the agent on the right began.

"—only human." The middle guy finished, stepping forward.

"I beg to differ," Shego retorted, holding up her now ignited hands. She smiled as the agents took a step back.

The middle agent was once again the spokesperson for the group. "Anomaly has activated abilities. Initiate protocol."

"The blue doctor is insignificant. Our only objective is to neutralize the anomaly," righty spoke.

"Insignificant?" Drakken objected. "I am Doctor Drakken! Mad scientist? Evil genius? Surely you've heard of me!"

"Save it, Doc," Shego snapped. "You have no idea who these guys are."

"I don't have to," the mad scientist said arrogantly. "Because they'll all be dead once I activate my laser cannons!" He held a remote in the air, and moved his finger towards the button.

Shego's eyes grew wide as she saw one of the agents produce a small device. "No, Dr. Drakken, don't!"

But it was too late. The mad scientist pressed a button, causing four laser turrets to descend from the ceiling. The barrels pointed towards the agents.

"You see, Shego?" Drakken declared with a smile. "Who needs to fight when you have traps like these?"

"Indeed," the agent agreed, pressing a button on the device. The cannons were suddenly pointed at Drakken

"Dr. D, get down!" Shego yelled, tackling him to the floor just as the lasers started firing. She quickly rolled under the bed, pulling Drakken with her.

"You idiot!" she whispered harshly. "I could have taken 'em! Now we're trapped!"

"Indeed you are," one of the agents said. Shego heard what sounded like the hammer of a gun cocking, and saw a pair of black-suited legs step up to the bed.

Before the agent could fire, however, Shego rolled on her side and swept his legs, knocking him to the floor. She grabbed Drakken's arm and slid out from under the bed, dragging the mad scientist towards the door. The other agents had drawn their guns and were now firing bullets in their direction. Shego lit her fist and shot a couple of plasma bolts back at them, smiling in satisfaction as it hit both men square in the chest, killing them.

"Shego, who were those people?" Drakken asked worriedly as Shego dragged him to the escape pod.

"Agents," the green woman huffed, not used to having to drag her boss. Well, he was technically running, but if she hadn't been holding his hand he wouldn't have been able to keep up. "No time to explain. Right now we gotta get out of here!"

They arrived at the escape pod a few seconds later. Shego turned her head to see if they were still being followed.

They weren't.

'_What the…._' She turned her attention back to Drakken. "Where the hell did they go?" she wondered aloud.

The blue doctor shrugged. "Maybe you killed them for good?"

"I doubt it," Shego replied. She shook her head. "It doesn't matter now. We've got to get out of here. Get in the—" She stopped when she saw Drakken's face start to contort. "No," she whispered. "Oh, please no."

But it was too late. Lines of green ran down Drakken's body as his entire structure changed. His signature blue lab coat changed to a plain black suit. His black hair, tied back into a pony tail, turned brown and shortened up. Finally, his blue skin turned normal, and a pair of sunglasses now covered his eyes. Drakken had now become an agent of the system.

Shego leapt back. '_Shit! Shit, shit, shit!_' she cursed internally. She turned to run, but stopped when she felt a powerful hand grab her by the shoulder. Turning around, she clocked the agent square in the face, but only succeeded in hurting her hand.

"Gha!" she screamed as the agent grabbed her by both hands and attempted to pull her in close. Activating her powers, she succeeded in making the agent let go. What made it all the more creepy was that the man did not howl in pain like a human would have. She lit up again, hoping to hit the agent in the face with a right hook.

The agent raised his left arm and grabbed Shego by the unlit portion on her wrist. He then drove his fist into her midsection, causing the green woman to spit blood all over his suit. Repeating this several times, he finally swung her by the arm in a one-handed hammer throw, flinging her across the room.

Shego lay on the ground for several seconds, coughing up blood. Seeing the agent coming towards her once more, she stood up quickly and started to run.

"Shit! Shit! Shit!" she cursed, admonishing herself for her stupidity. Drakken couldn't be saved. He was just another pawn in this twisted chess game. She needed to get out.

Bang! The sound of a gun being fired. The wall next to Shego shattered as a .50 caliber round impacted the concrete. She ran faster, incorporating a zigzag pattern into her run to compensate for the fact that she was now being fired upon.

After about thirty seconds of running, she saw the exit in front of her. She picked up the pace even further, running as fast as her lithe, powerful legs could carry her. She was almost there.

There was just one problem.

Before she reached the door, an agent she had incapacitated earlier blocked her path. Shego turned around and saw that the other agent was still in pursuit. With no time to think, she leapt high in the air, clearing the agent's head by a good ten feet. Landing hard on her boots, she picked up running once more, barely avoiding the flurry of bullets.

There! The payphone was right in front of her. Only about fifty yards to go….

Which was more than enough time for a bullet to bury itself next to her shoulder blade. "Gyahh!" Shego screeched as the projectile burrowed into her, burning her muscles. Despite this, she slowed down only slightly. She needed to escape.

Ring! She was almost there. Ten yards to go….

Then she saw it.

One of the agents, the one she had not dispatched, had managed to start a garbage truck that had been parked across the street from the lair. He revved his engine and pointed it at the phone booth.

'_Why do they always do that?_' Shego wondered, before taking off running to the phone booth. The truck started to move as well, barreling down on Shego's only means of escape.

Ring! Only two yards to go….

Shego reached the phone booth and rushed inside, picking the phone up off the receiver. Placing the phone to her ear, she extended her middle finger to the man in the garbage truck.

The very next moment, the truck plowed into the phone booth, sending it crashing through the wall. Stopping the engine, the triumphant agent stepped out of the vehicle and examined the wreckage. His two companions stepped up beside him.

"She got out."

"It doesn't matter. We have the name of their next target: Kim Possible."

"We'll need a search going."

"It has already begun."

* * *

_Yes, yes, I know that I've got other stories to finish, but this plot bunny just wouldn't let go. I realize that crossovers with __**The Matrix**__ are common in the KP fandom, but I've never really seen one done from a KiGo perspective. The only option, of course, was to write it myself. Not that I mind at all. I should have the first chapter out once I've updated some of my other stories, but for now, enjoy this prologue. I promise, this will be a take on __**The Matrix**__ like you've never seen before. Please read and review. No flames, please. _

**beeftony**


	2. Basic Average Girl

_Kim Possible, Ron Stoppable, and all related characters are the property of the Disney Company. I own this work of fiction. I make no profit from this.  
_

_**The Matrix**__ is the property of Warner Brothers, © the Wachowski brothers._

**Chapter 1**  
Basic Average Girl

BEEP BEEP BE BEEP!

"What's the sitch, Wade?" The girl had red hair and green eyes. That was always the first thing people noticed about her.

"We've got another one," the short, pudgy African American boy on the other end of the communication informed her in a serious voice.

"Have you called Ron?" She stood up, exiting the classroom even though there were still 30 minutes left. Surprisingly, the large man in a brown sport coat did not even attempt to stop her. They had an unspoken understanding about these sorts of missions. He simply nodded and allowed her to leave. She thanked him silently with her eyes.

"What exactly happened?" the girl demanded.

"You're not gonna like it, Kim," Wade replied. "It's Drakken and Shego this time."

"Damn." Not many things could make Kim Possible curse like that. In fact, you wouldn't meet a girl with a cleaner mouth. But this was serious.

"Are you sure you want to do this, Kim?" Wade asked out of formality, even though he already knew the answer. "We have other guys who can do it."

"I owe Shego a lot, Wade. She saved my life twice. I'm going to find out who did this to her. It's my duty as a hero. Besides, you wouldn't have called me if you thought someone else could do it."

Wade sighed. "That's what I thought you'd say. I'm bringing your car around front now. Ron should be meeting up with you in a couple minutes."

Kim decided to wait until Ron showed up before leaving. Fortunately, she didn't have to wait long. "Hey, KP!"

The redhead smiled. Ron was her best friend of fourteen years, turned boyfriend just last year. Their one-year anniversary was approaching. Too bad they had had such a long string of missions lately. Normally she wouldn't have minded, but these weren't her average missions.

"Who is it this time?" Ron panted as he climbed into the passenger seat.

Rufus, his pet naked mole rat, popped out of Ron's pocket. "Yeah, who?"

Kim looked somber. "Drakken and Shego."

Ron nodded silently with the same expression. "There's one thing I still can't figure out," he spoke once they were out on the road. "Why would serial killers target villains?"

"Maybe they're vigilantes," Kim offered. "Maybe they think they're doing the world a favor."

"Yeah, but villains should be in jail, not dead. That's always been what you've said."

"Not everybody listens to me," Kim pointed out as she changed lanes. They were approaching the lair where the incident had apparently happened. Drakken and Shego's latest lair wasn't that far from the school, thankfully. "Vigilantes are often just as bad as the people they kill. Which is why we're going to find whoever it was and bring them to justice."

"I doubt it," Ron mumbled, too low for Kim to hear him.

"We're here," Kim announced. "Let's go see what we can gather. Dr. Director!"

The head of Global Justice, a short-haired brunette with an eye patch covering her left eye, turned at the sound of her name. Seeing Kim and Ron, she waved them over.

"What have you got?" Kim inquired.

Dr. Director leaned her hands on the table that had been set up just outside the lair that held all the details of the investigation. Typing a few commands into her laptop, she brought up a slide show. "Here's what we know so far: At around two o'clock AM Central Standard Time, the security of Dr. Drakken's lair was breached. As you can see, the impacts were the same as we found at the other sites."

"Fist indents," Kim guessed without even looking at the pictures.

The one-eyed woman nodded. "Somebody apparently punched through the door. How, we're not sure, since those fists appear to be of normal human size."

"Maybe they were super strong?" Ron suggested. After all, his mystical monkey power gave him super strength when he needed it. Unfortunately, it came and went.

"That's our theory," Betty replied. "Drakken apparently activated a laser trap, but it was unsuccessful. We followed the footprints in the lair, since Drakken decided to go with a dirt floor this time, and we saw signs of a struggle near an escape capsule. We're guessing it was Shego. Here's where things get interesting, though." She pointed to the screen. "If you'll notice, this trail of footprints leading up to the escape transport are Drakken's shoe size, and he appeared to stop right here." She pointed to a spot on the screen. "Then things get weird." The camera zoomed in closer, and Kim and Ron's eyes widened as they realized what had happened.

"It's like he suddenly grew three shoe sizes," Kim spoke up first. Ron simply closed his eyes and cursed. Kim didn't notice.

"That's exactly what happened," Dr. Director replied. "And that's not all. We finally managed to locate Drakken's body out by a destroyed phone booth on the far side of the building, shot dead. We didn't find Shego's body." If Kim had been looking, she would have noticed that Ron perked up at that news.

"Do you mind letting us have a look around?" Kim requested, even though she planned to anyway.

Betty nodded. "Just take these." She handed them two passes. "This is still a federal crime scene. Drakken and Shego were a threat to several world governments. If you find anything, tell me right away." She tossed them two headsets.

"You can count on us, Dr. Director," Ron assured her. Rufus popped out of the blonde's pocket and gave a thumb's up, offering even more reassurance.

"Let's get going, Ron," Kim said, going into mission mode. She and Ron walked into the lair.

Dr. Director watched as the two teen heroes disappeared into the darkness. When they were out of visual range she turned around and was confronted with three men in what appeared to be finely tailored suits wearing dark sunglasses and earpieces. "Can I help you gentlemen?"

The one in the center, apparently the leader of the group, handed her a picture. "Have you seen these two?" He asked in perfect monotone. Dr. Director stared at the photo for a couple of seconds. It was of Kim and Ron.

"May I inquire as to who is asking?" the one-eyed woman asked diplomatically.

The response was blunt. "If you need to ask, you don't have the clearance."

Dr. Director nodded in understanding. This was a federal crime scene, after all. "They're in there," she said, pointing to the lair.

"Thank you for your cooperation, _Ms_. Director," the middleman replied, demoting her for the sake of proving his superiority. Betty was unfazed. She was used to those kinds of men. Still, what did they want with Kim and Ron? She knew better than to call out after them. But why were they pulling out their….

"Oh, hell!" she cursed as she put her finger to her ear. "Kim, Ron, get the hell out of there now!" She looked down to grab her sidearm, only to be met with trouble as the holster refused to open. After several seconds of fiddling, she finally decided, "Fuck it!" and ran towards the entrance. But there was someone blocking her path.

"If you had simply cooperated, you would have been allowed to live, Ms. Director," the agent said tonelessly, the cold steel of his .50 caliber pistol pressed against the one-eyed woman's forehead. "But now you know too much." He pulled the trigger without even changing his expression. Betty's now headless body fell to the ground with a "thud."

"Get the anomalies," he ordered the two other agents as all the troops around him suddenly sprang into action at the death of their leader. "I'll eliminate any witnesses."

* * *

Kim and Ron heard the shot and were instantly on the floor. "What the hell?!" Kim screamed.

"Damn it!" Ron shouted, obviously pretty upset to be using such language.

"What was that?" Kim demanded.

"Consider it a warning shot," came a monotone voice from the door.

"But you won't have to heed the warning for very long," said a second, equally dispassionate voice.

Kim and Ron looked up and took in the sight of two men in box suits with dark sunglasses and earpieces. In their hands, they held .50 caliber pistols, which they held leveled at the two teens.

"So this is the legendary Team Possible," one of the men said tonelessly. "Interesting."

Ron stood up, seemingly unafraid of the guns. "Get out of here, KP," he ordered.

"Ron, what—"

"Go. I'll handle them." As if to punctuate his statement, a bright blue glow surrounded Ron's hand for a brief second. When it faded, there was a sword in its place.

"Anomaly has activated abilities," one of the Agents said automatically. "Initiate protocol." They raised their pistols. Ron merely smirked. Kim closed her eyes, not able to bear the sight of her boyfriend being shot. Normally she was the bravest person in the world. But when Ron was in danger by something even she couldn't stop…. She didn't want to think about it. Then Ron did something amazing.

A loud bang resonated off of the walls of the empty lair as the Agents fired their weapons. Kim opened her eyes just in time to see Ron move faster than she had ever seen him before, mystical monkey power or not. Two distinct showers of sparks erupted from the air as Ron deflected the bullets with the Lotus Blade. Kim stared slack-jawed, unable to move.

Not wasting any time, Ron moved with superhuman speed yet again, lunging forward with the Lotus Blade and cutting the pistols in half. He made a horizontal swipe at his two adversaries, who each performed a near impossible move by bending over backwards. Ron followed up with a vertical strike to the agent on his right, who twirled out of the way of the sword and swung at Ron's back. Ron raised the sword backwards over his head, embedding it in the man's forearm. Kim noticed that the agent did not cry out in pain.

Using the stuck agent as leverage, Ron raised his feet into the air and delivered a solid kick to the other agent, then back-flipped over the man behind him. He shifted into a fighting stance, holding the sword with one hand by his ear. Holding his other hand in front of him, he urged them to "Bring it on."

The agents complied, rushing the ninja with a speed that Kim herself would have trouble matching. She stood frozen, amazed with Ron's sudden drastic improvement in fighting ability, with the feeling that she was way out of her league. She decided to let Ron hold them off while she went and got help. While it was not her usual role, she seriously doubted that she could keep up with those men that Ron was going toe-to-toe with so effortlessly. She stole a glance back and saw that her boyfriend was more than holding his own, actually beating the two agents back. '_Way to go, Ron,_' she thought.

She turned back around just in time to see a third agent. Not having any time to change course, she ran into him headlong. It felt like hitting a brick wall. Dazed, she held her head as she tried to get up off the floor. He pointed his pistol at her.

"You have become a threat to the security of the Matrix," the man said in an unfeeling voice. "You and your friend must die." He pulled the trigger.

Kim rolled out of the way just in time, the bullet kicking up dirt beside her. She attempted to sweep the agent's legs, but it was like trying to kick a tree trunk. The man drew back his uninjured leg and kicked her across the floor.

Clutching her stomach, the redhead tried to get up. She coughed up blood as she staggered to her feet. The agent ran over to her with superhuman speed, but she was ready for him this time. Jumping in the air, she kicked the pistol out of his hand and planted her other foot on his face, using him to kick off and land ten feet away.

The agent pulled off his now damaged sunglasses. "You're going to pay for that, Miss Possible."

"Criminal always returns to the scene of the crime, huh?" she asked, deducing that these guys had been the ones who killed Drakken and Shego. For the first time in her life, Kim felt afraid. She'd seen what these guys could do.

"Their deaths were not a crime," the man said tonelessly. "It was a public service. Those two were more trouble than they were worth. As are you."

"I don't go down without a fight," Kim warned him, shifting into position. "I'll die before I give you what you want."

"But that's where you're mistaken, Miss Possible," the agent replied, now with just a hint of malice. "Your death _is_ what I want."

Kim gulped and steeled herself. This was going to be one hell of a fight.

The agent came at her like a freight train, running straight and hard. Kim smirked and simply jumped out of the way, expecting him to miss. However, she underestimated his maneuverability, and was therefore taken off guard when he jumped right in front of her projected landing spot. Kim gasped before putting her legs out in front of her, hoping to cause some damage. Her plan was thwarted, however, then the man grabbed her foot with both hands and hammer-threw her across the room. She slammed hard into the opposite wall.

"KP!" Ron had seen the throw. Growling, he increased his already frenetic pace, while the agents kept up without breaking a sweat. "Upgrades," he muttered. "Why'd it have to be upgrades?" He was slowly beating them back, but he was growing tired just the same. He couldn't hold out forever. '_I sure hope they're right about Kim,_' he thought to himself as he dodged another punch.

Picking up his pistol, off the ground, the agent strode slowly over to where Kim lay on the floor, badly hurt. He pointed it at her. "Such attitude. Maybe you are The One after all. Too bad you'll never find out." He pulled the hammer back. Kim put her arms over her face and waited for the inevitable. Then the impossible happened.

Time froze.

Looking up, Kim saw something very different from the sight before she closed her eyes. Everything seemed to be moving, made of thousands of tiny green symbols. She heard the gun fire, and saw a rapid runoff of code emerge from the barrel. But the bullet seemed to be traveling towards her at a snail's pace. "No," she said, stretching her hand out in front of her.

The bullet stopped.

Time sped back up again, but everyone was still frozen. Kim lay there half sitting, supporting herself on one arm, the other outstretched. She had stopped a bullet in midair.

As usual, Ron broke the silence. "Booyah!" he shouted excitedly. The agents he had been dueling turned away and walked over to Kim. Ron just smirked. They would get what was coming to them alright. All he had to do now was sit back and watch.

"She is The One," an agent said.

"This is bad."

"Kill her."

They all rushed towards her with insane speed, but Kim fended them off with a single leg. Pushing off her left arm, she stood up and blocked their strikes with ease. Her face was passionless, as though she was being controlled by someone or something else. There was something different about the agents too, Ron noticed. They actually seemed a little afraid.

'_They'd better be. Looks like Morpheus was right,_' Ron thought confidently as he leaned back and enjoyed the show.

To Kim, everything was green and moving. It was all a bit disorientating, and she did not feel in control of her body. She was running on pure instinct, with no rational input. She was aware of what was happening, but she still wondered what the hell was going on.

For the agents, it spelled trouble. Their mission had been to destroy The One before she realized who she was. They had failed.

"Retreat," one of them suggested.

"Affirmative," said another. They disengaged and started to run.

"Not so fast," Kim sneered as she jumped in front of them. "I'm not done with you yet." Now the emotionless look on her face had been replaced with one of malice; an expression of dark hunger. She looked positively evil.

"Anomaly appears to have traces of a sister program," one of the agents opined.

"This is not good."

"For you," Kim said devilishly before thrusting her hand into the first agent's chest and literally ripping his heart out. He disappeared in a flash of green, and in his place was a dead GJ agent. The redhead grabbed the other two by the throat, crushing their larynxes like twigs. As the virtual demons left their victims, she dropped them to the floor.

Kim herself was then on the floor, dropping to her knees and gripping her head. Apparently whatever presence had possessed her was now leaving. Ron rushed over and put his arms around her. "KP, are you alright?"

The redhead shivered. Looking at Ron, thankfully in full color again, she formed one question: "What the hell just happened?"

* * *

_Before you ask, yes, I stole the half-Neo/half-Smith idea from __**Classic Cowboy**__'s Matrix crossover. The resolution will be completely different, however. I can't reveal too many details at this point, but rest assured that I've got it pretty much planned out. Hope you don't mind, CC. I'll try to have the next chapter up soon. Until then, enjoy my other stories._

**beeftony**


	3. Follow the White Rabbit

_Kim Possible, Ron Stoppable, and all related characters are the property of the Disney Company. I own this work of fiction. I make no profit from this.  
_

_**The Matrix**__ is the property of Warner Brothers, © the Wachowski brothers._

**Chapter 2**  
Follow the White Rabbit

* * *

_All truth is simple... is that not doubly a lie?_

-Friedrich Nietzche

* * *

Computers are bad for your eyes. Someone had once told her that it had something to do with the way the pixels interlaced on the screen, and that if you stared for too long it would cause vision problems. You could tell when your eyes started to hurt. She was starting to believe them.

After all, the person who had originally told her was Wade.

But Kim did not care if her incessant searching on the internet caused her to need glasses someday. After all, Wade had been doing it for years and his vision was still perfect. Then again, the boy was out of his room so seldom that Kim had begun to wonder if his eyes had evolved somehow to offset the highly detrimental effect of staring at a computer screen. Hers, unfortunately, had not.

Leaning back in her chair, Kim raised her fingers to her eyes in an attempt to rub out the soreness. She had been at this for months, and she was still no closer to her goal than when she started.

The Matrix. The man in the suit had said something about The Matrix. She had decided to look up "matrix" in the dictionary that day when she got home. There were several definitions, having to do with various subjects such as mathematics, anatomy, biology, mining, metallurgy, and even printing. There was only one that made even a remote amount of sense:

_1. Something that constitutes the place or point from which something else originates, takes form, or develops._

That had been confusing to her at first, but now, months later, she was starting to see what it meant. The Matrix had to be the origin of something: the source of all her problems; the one place where she would find the answer she sought. The problem was that her searches returned nothing but more confusion. Wade had reported similar results, though Kim was beginning to think that the boy genius wasn't even trying. The only option was to sit down and do it herself until she found the answer she was looking for.

In Kim's freshman year, Middleton High had been briefly overtaken by the animology craze, a lame cross between astrology and a personality quiz. The premise was quite simple: answer a series of questions, and at the end you were assigned a color and an animal. Kim had turned out to be a Blue Fox. One of the Blue Fox's defining traits was the inability to resist a challenge. Kim had lived up to that trait. She would do whatever it took to master a challenge. Even if it meant searching blindly for months.

She was still contemplating the futility of her search when a chime indicated that someone had sent her an IM. She opened the chat window.

_Green Badger: How's it hangin'?_

Kim wrinkled her nose at the odds of someone else having an animology-related username, but decided to go with it. She typed a reply.

_Blue Fox: Who are you?_

_Green Badger: Someone who's been watching over you._

Kim raised her eyebrow. That was definitely weird.

_Blue Fox: What the hell is that supposed to mean?_

_Green Badger: I know what you've been doing. I know what you're looking for. I was looking for the same thing once._

_Blue Fox: The Matrix?_

_Green Badger: Yup._

Kim's eyes brightened. Just moments ago she had been considering giving up her search. Now, out of pure blind luck, she was in contact with someone who had the answer she was looking for. She eagerly typed a reply.

_Blue Fox: Can you tell me what it is? _

_Green Badger: Nope._

_Blue Fox: Why not?_

_Green Badger: Because no one can be told what The Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself. LOL_

_Blue Fox: What's so funny?_

_Green Badger: Nothing. It's an inside joke. You wouldn't get it._

_Blue Fox: Oh._

_Green Badger: Look, I can't really say that much over IM. Your connection is being monitored. We'll have to meet in private. Then I can help answer your question. Or at least refer you to the man who can._

Kim's eyes opened even further in delight.

_Blue Fox: Morpheus?_

_Green Badger: Yeah. _

_Blue Fox: You know him?_

_Green Badger: Like I said, I can't exactly say a lot over your connection. Meet me tonight._

_Blue Fox: How will I know where to meet you?_

The screen was inactive for a few moments as Kim awaited Green Badger's reply. Finally, she got a cryptic message:

_Green Badger: Follow the white rabbit._

Kim was about to ask what the hell that meant when she got the message: "Green Badger has logged off." Damn.

Seconds later, she heard a knock at the door. Her heart jumped. What if that was the person who had just been talking with her? What if it was a trap? Suspicious, she closed her laptop and moved over to her door. "Who is it?" she asked cautiously.

"Tara."

Kim breathed a sigh of relief. Tara was safe. A bit flighty, but at least she posed no threat. The redhead strode over calmly and opened her door. "Hey, Tara, how's it—" She stopped short when she saw that the cheerleader was dressed head-to-toe in a white playboy bunny costume. She stared in shock. "Uh, Tara, what's with the—"

"It's Halloween, silly!" Tara giggled. "Have you forgotten?"

Kim chuckled. "Yeah, I guess I did. I haven't been outside much lately."

"I'll say," the blonde agreed. "Everyone's been worried about you. They sent me to come get you out of your cave."

Kim closed her eyes and sighed. "I'm fine, really."

"You don't look fine. You have circles under your eyes. Come out for one night."

"Really, Tara I—" She stopped when she remembered the last cryptic message from her chat buddy. '_Follow the white rabbit…. Of course!'_

"So are you coming or not?" Tara tapped her foot nervously, a sign that she didn't really want to be here. The others had probably put her up to this. No one wanted to face Kim when she was obsessed.

Fortunately for Tara, this just happened to serve Kim's obsession with finding the answers. The redhead smiled. "Sure, Tara. I'll go."

* * *

Kim had not been to many parties in her life. Between school, missions, cheer squad and hanging out with Ron, she didn't really have much time for a social life. Hell, if Ron hadn't broken up with her for seemingly no reason several months ago, she would have just gone trick-or-treating with him tonight. But that was definitely out.

It had come out of nowhere. One day everything was fine, the next Ron had dumped her, saying, "I don't know who you are anymore." It had hurt. Bad. That was what had launched Kim so fully into her search. And now that search had brought her here. She was finally going to meet the one who could give her the answers she sought.

Since she had not thought to buy a costume, Kim picked out the one thing in her wardrobe that looked remotely like something one might wear on Halloween: a green and black catsuit that she had worn several years earlier when she had been under mind control and forced to wear one of Shego's jumpsuits. It was oddly fitting, she told herself, and wearing it would be her way of honoring the green woman.

Shego had been on Kim's mind a lot lately. She had disappeared several months ago, and despite their best efforts, the authorities had been unable to locate her remains. Kim took that as a sign that Shego could still be alive, but denied herself the joy that came with that realization. After all, the woman may have been wrongly killed, but she had still tried to kill Kim a few times. That wasn't exactly easy to forget.

Still, she respected Shego. The green woman had not deserved what happened to her. Kim had always believed that she would be the one to finally put Shego away, and that when Shego's time did finally come, that she would die with honor. Despite trying to kill her in the past, Shego had saved Kim's life twice, displaying a sense of honor that made Kim regret declaring her hatred for the woman before kicking her into an electric tower.

They had even been friends for awhile, hanging out while Shego was under the influence of a modified Attitudinator. Shego had been turned back to evil in the end of course, but Kim had discovered that they had a lot more in common than she had previously thought. But that wasn't Shego. Shego was evil. And Kim was sworn to fight evil.

These thoughts were pushed to the side as Kim trekked across the dance floor, looking for anyone who could have been "Green Badger." No luck. After engaging in a few half-interesting conversations, Kim moved to a dark corner of the room and leaned against a wall. She was contemplating leaving when she heard a voice.

"I always knew you had good fashion sense, Princess."

Kim gasped and whipped her body around, an automatic response after years of hearing that voice. Once she saw who it was, she relaxed. Odd; it was usually the other way around.

"You."

"Yeah, me."

They stared at each other for several seconds. Kim's mind was reeling; she was unsure of whether to be happy, upset, or just plain confused. She settled for irate. "Where the hell have you been?"

Shego smirked. "Since when do you care?"

"Since I thought you died. Where'd you disappear to?"

"A place where you would never find me," the green woman replied smugly.

Kim scowled, any feelings of relief having been pushed to the side and replaced by indignation at the remark. "I guess I should have suspected as much. You always did like hiding from me."

Shego just grinned. "Yeah, well, I'm hiding from a lot of people, Princess. Not just you."

"Well it's good to see you're alright," Kim said in a forced tone, as though she didn't really want to sound as angry as she came off. She crossed her arms and looked to the side. "Why are you here, anyway?"

The amused expression left Shego's face. "You're in danger, Kimmie."

Kim just leveled a sardonic gaze at Shego. "Yeah, no shit."

"I didn't say from me. I'm here to help you."

"Yeah, since when have you been interested in helping me?"

"I seem to recall saving your life twice."

"True, but you didn't have to," Kim protested, for no other reason than disagreeing with Shego. "I could have handled myself."

Shego just smirked. "I've saved your life a lot more than twice, Kimmie."

"What's that supposed to mean?" the redhead asked indignantly.

The green woman smiled and moved closer to Kim, causing her to gasp as she pressed up against the wall. She was trapped. Shego then leaned forward, next to Kim's ear. "We may have fought for years, Princess, but I've always been on your side. I've been your little guardian angel, making sure you didn't get into too much trouble. Why do you think those deathtraps were so easy to escape from? Why do you think Drakken never managed to kill you? I've been watching over you since day one, Kimmie."

The feeling of warm air against Kim's ear caused the younger woman to take in a shuddered gasp. Shego's body was inches from hers. She had been close to the green woman before, but never like this. There was something almost… sensual about it.

"We've been fighting the same battle, Princess. I know what you're looking for. I was looking for the same thing once." The words spoke to Kim's heart, causing it to flutter. Her breaths became short and irregular. "But I didn't find him; he found me. And when he found me, he told me that I'd known all along. It's the question that drives us, Kimmie. You know the question."

Kim couldn't help but feel she'd been in this situation before, though she had no idea why. She said the only four words on her mind. "What is The Matrix?"

Shego smiled and exhaled softly on Kim's cheek, which sent a shudder down the younger girl's spine. But it wasn't a bad shudder. It felt kind of… good. "I can bring you to the man who can tell you the answers, Kimmie. But you have to be careful. They're coming for you."

"They?"

"Agents. But I don't think you have anything to worry about. Trust me; I know you better than anyone." Shego's face was now in front of Kim's, her viridian orbs staring into the redhead's own. There was something so soft in those eyes; so passionate. A thin layer of sweat formed on Kim's body as her heart beat faster and her breaths became highly erratic. Shego moved closer, tilting her head to the side.

Kim didn't think: she reacted. Craning her neck forward, she moved closer to the older woman. Everything else faded into the background as their lips moved mere inches apart, drawn together like the opposing poles of two magnets. She was lost in the moment, in the rush. Her heart began to pound in her chest. Her eyes closed. Her breaths became shorter. All she wanted in that moment was to meet Shego's full lips with her own. She was mere millimeters from her goal when suddenly she heard….

* * *

…A series of beeps. It was her alarm clock. Sitting up in a cold sweat, Kim slammed her hand down on the infernal device and panted as she tried to regain her bearings. What the hell kind of dream was that?

Placing her hands on the sides of her head and squinting her eyes shut, Kim took a series of deep, cleansing breaths. Why had she dreamed about kissing Shego? The woman who had tried to kill her? And who was probably now dead? It made no sense.

'_It was just a dream,_' she reminded herself Shego was still missing. There was little doubt in Kim's mind that if they were reunited, it certainly wouldn't go like that. She had to have imagined the whole thing.

But if she had dreamed it, then why did it seem so… real?

After rubbing her temples for a bit more, Kim finally calmed down and moved to stand up.

It was then that she became aware of a peculiar situation in her nether regions. A quick inspection with her hand confirmed that she had indeed been doing more than just tossing and turning last night. She needed to get ready for school. But first… she needed to change her undies.

* * *

Kim had woken up a little late, but thankfully she lived on campus. Go City University wasn't exactly what she'd had in mind when she filled out college applications, but she had done it to be closer to Ron. Now that seemed like more of a curse than a blessing.

Still, they had remained friends. The slight discomfort that came with the break up had dissipated after the summer had come to an end. Now it was just like old times. She still wished that he would tell her exactly why he had broken up with her, but she had learned not to push the issue. Ron deserved his space. And she had to admit, it was much less stressful. Only in retrospect did Kim realize how much of a strain the relationship had been. Now she had more time to figure out what the hell was going on with her.

Why had those agents come to kill her all those months ago? How was Ron able to fight them off so easily? What the hell had gotten into her? What was up with that green code? All questions that she had been trying to find answers to for the past several months.

These thoughts were pushed to the side when she entered her Philosophy class and took her usual seat next to Ron. The blonde smiled and greeted her but said little else. There was still a bit of tension after all these months.

"So what'd I miss?" Kim whispered.

"Nothing. The teacher's not even here yet."

"You think he's out sick?"

"Probably. And here I thought college food would be better than high school food."

Their whispering was cut off by the sound of the door opening. Half the jaws in the classroom dropped when they saw a set of pale legs walk through the door.

The legs disappeared under a mid-length brown skirt, while the woman's upper torso was covered with a grey jacket and aquamarine turtleneck. She wore a blue headband in her raven black hair. All the men in the classroom were suddenly rendered incapable of intelligent speech.

Like she had the first time she'd seen the woman in that outfit, Kim gasped and said one word: "Shego?"

Unlike that initial encounter, however, the pale woman looked at Kim and gave her a wink. Kim found that highly odd, but she brushed it off. She watched Shego with great interest as the pale woman set her supplies down on the podium and wrote her name on the board.

"Good morning, class," she said cheerfully.

All the students that were not currently drooling replied: "Good morning, Miss Go."

Kim was silent. Shego was alive! But what did that mean? Why was she _here_, of all places? Did she need her help like that time she had been hit with the Attitudinator? She pushed the thoughts to the back of her head for the moment and focused on what Shego was saying.

"Sorry your usual professor couldn't make it, but I assure you he's given me all the notes I need to teach today's lesson." She paused and looked directly at Kim. "Today we're going to be learning about Rene Descartes. How many of you have heard of him? Raise your hands."

A number of hands went up around the room, including Kim's. Even Ron raised his hand. Shego smiled and continued with her lecture.

"Well, for those of you who didn't raise your hands, Descartes was a famous philosopher as well as a mathematician. The basic premise behind his philosophy was that anything that can be doubted in the slightest can be doubted completely. His goal was to find one absolute, self-evident truth and work from there. You see, Descartes lived during the Scientific Revolution, where things that had been taught for hundreds of years were disproven and replaced. Everything was being doubted. Descartes felt that the only way to arrive at a reliable system of knowledge was to tear everything down and start from scratch. He wanted to make it so that the laws of epistemology worked the same as the laws of mathematics. Simple and self-evident, or as he put it, 'Clearly and distinctly perceived.' Some say he succeeded in his goal." She paused for effect.

"Now, to arrive at this essential truth, Descartes first had to tear down everything that he had come to accept as the truth. If something could be reasonably doubted in the slightest, then it could not be absolutely true. He started with the first and most obvious of these: sensory perception. Descartes argued that his senses can sometimes mislead him, and therefore it could be the case that they always misled him. Therefore, his senses cannot be trusted."

Kim took a slight objection to that. She raised her hand.

Shego smiled when she saw the redhead's hand in the air. "Yes, Miss Possible?"

"Senses aren't always misleading. I mean, sure, I've waved at somebody I thought I knew and it turned out it wasn't them, but it doesn't happen all the time."

The green woman just grinned. "Descartes would agree with you. But he would also say that it could be the case that your senses are deceiving you all the time. How do you know they aren't?"

Kim thought about that for a second. "Just because there's no evidence that they aren't doesn't mean they are. Just because something happens once doesn't mean it happens all the time."

"True, but Descartes operated under the assumption that if something can be doubted even slightly, then it's no good. He wanted to find a truth that couldn't be doubted no matter what. He couldn't trust his senses, because he never knew when they were misleading him."

Kim crossed her arms and scowled. "Fine," she grumbled.

"Any more questions?" Shego asked, looking around the room. Satisfied that Kim was the only one with an objection, she went right back into her lecture. "There was another argument that Descartes used to doubt his sensory beliefs, called the Dream Argument. He argued that when he's dreaming, then that means nothing is real. And if nothing is real, that means everything he sees in his dream can be doubted."

Kim was suddenly jerked to alertness. That was exactly what was happening. That dream she'd had last night… none of it was true. She still didn't know Shego's motive in all this, but it couldn't have been what she'd dreamed about….

"In order to tell that he was awake and not dreaming, Descartes needed something to tell him he wasn't dreaming. Something that was different in the real world than it was in the dream world. He never found it. So he argued that because he couldn't tell whether he was dreaming or awake, that everything he knew based on sensory perception was unreliable."

Kim was stunned. How did she know she wasn't dreaming right now? It wouldn't surprise her if she was, given that Shego was teaching her class, but…. It had been real before, hadn't it? She didn't know how exactly how to explain it, but somehow, Shego's words struck a chord in her. Was this all a dream? She raised her hand. "Miss Go?"

"Yes, Kimmie?"

"How did Descartes ever manage to find the truth if everything around him could be doubted? I mean, he had to have found something that was real."

Shego smiled. "That, Kimmie, has to do with his final argument. Now that Descartes had cast doubt on all his sensory beliefs, it was time to tackle his non-sensory ones; the stuff he knew already. You can't doubt that two plus two equals four, can you? It's a simple mathematical fact. But Descartes wasn't so willing to believe it. His final argument was called the Malicious Demon Argument. Descartes argued that there could be a malicious demon out there, clouding his mind and feeding him lies. He could be a brain in a jar somewhere, his body having been destroyed. He had no way of knowing. So everything he believed, everything, no matter what it was, was utterly unreliable. But there was one thing the malicious demon couldn't convince him of."

Kim raised her hand and spoke. "And what was that?"

Shego grinned. "For all his tricks, the demon could not convince Descartes that he didn't exist. By the very act of doubting, Descartes confirmed that somewhere, whether his body existed or not, he existed as a thinking subject. This was the simple, self-evident truth that he had been searching for all along, the truth that would lay the foundation for his entire system of knowledge. Descartes called this truth the _cogito_. He summed it up in five words: 'I think; therefore I am.'"

Kim was dumbstruck. She never knew Shego was this smart. All her attempts to speak resulted in flapping her mouth up and down uselessly. Just when she worked out what she was going to say, a bell rang, signaling the end of class.

* * *

Shego waved to the quickly departing mass of students. Unsure of what to do, Kim exited the classroom, expecting Ron to fall in line behind her. Seeing that this was not the case, however, she turned and walked back into the classroom. Peeking through the door, she saw Ron and Shego conversing.

"That was good," Ron said in a complimentary tone, which utterly shocked Kim. "Seems like you and Morpheus have something in common."

"Meh," Shego dismissed with a shrug. "I always had a thing for philosophy. Did you see how Kimmie reacted?"

"Yeah, she's really confused right now. Especially since she thinks last night was a dream."

'_How does he know about that?_' Kim thought to herself. '_Something isn't right._'

Shego chuckled. "Yeah, well, I took advantage of that. Probably why she was late. Poor girl's probably confused as hell."

'_Probably? What the hell are they talking about?_'

"Are we gonna take her to see him soon?"

"The agents are getting closer to her. We've been able to hold 'em off this long, but it won't last forever. I wouldn't be surprised if…."

The rest of the sentence was lost to the redhead as she heard a loud throat-clearing noise behind her. Sheepishly, she turned around to see the Dean staring down at her.

"Official business, Miss Possible?" he asked in a suspicious tone.

"Uh…." Kim rubbed the back of her neck and focused intently on the man's shoes. '_Shit!'_

"I'm waiting for an explanation," the Dean said, tapping his foot expectantly.

Suddenly, the shoes changed. Trickles of green ran over the Dean as the rather scrawny man grew several inches in height. His thick rimmed glasses were replaced with shades, and an earpiece now hung from the side of his head.

"Hello, Miss Possible," the agent greeted briefly before drawing back his fist.

Kim didn't have any time to react. The heavy wooden door splintered as she was knocked through it, dislocating it from its hinges. Lying on her side, Kim spat up blood. That hurt.

Ron and Shego were already on the defensive, the former having summoned the Lotus Blade and the latter with her hands ignited. They stared down the intruder, forming a protective barrier between Kim and the agent.

Kim was confused. What the hell was going on with Ron and Shego? Why were they working together? She pushed those thoughts to the side as two more agents came in and she stood to her feet.

"What the hell is going on?" she demanded.

"Explain later, Princess," Shego replied, not even turning to look at Kim. "Right now we've got trouble."

Reflexively, Kim dropped into her fighting stance. She tried to remember what it was last time that had triggered what she had come to call "Code Vision." If she could somehow summon it…. No. She remembered what had happened last time. But from what she had seen of the agents, it was likely their only chance for survival.

"Give up The One and no one gets hurt," the center agent promised with a hollow voice. "We'll even let you go."

Ron scowled and morphed the Lotus Blade into a bo staff. Holding it defensively, he glared daggers at the agents and replied: "The only way you're getting her is over my dead body."

"As you wish," the agent said emptily, going for his gun. It was knocked out of his hand by a well placed plasma blast. Scowling, he turned to the other two agents. "Get the distractions. I'll handle The One." The agents on the left and right moved towards Ron and Shego, circling them. The center agent headed for Kim.

Deprived of his gun, the agent made a bull rush towards Kim, leaving her little time to jump over him in a dodge. Kim flipped in midair, sticking out her feet and planting them in the agent's upper back, turning his momentum against him and sending him crashing into a wall. She turned around and smirked.

"You should be glad your head's so thick, or you'd be down for the count right now."

Not one for small talk, the agent simply growled and rushed her again, swiping at her with a heavy right hook. Kim ducked under the punch, retaliating with an uppercut, which only succeeded in hurting her hand. Kim decided to abandon that strategy and use her far more powerful legs, jumping high in the air as the agent attempted to pull her into a bear hug. Good thing she hadn't gotten out of shape from all those months of sitting in front of a computer.

Ron was faring similarly, preferring dodges to blocks. He swept the agent's legs with his staff, following it up with an overhead strike like an axe blow. The agent saw that coming, however, and simply grabbed the staff with his hand, using it to throw Ron into the chalk board. Ron twisted in midair, planting his feet on the board and using it to push off and land on the ground unharmed. He turned back to the agent just in time to see his opponent break the Lotus Blade over his knee.

"Aw man, that is so not cool!" he complained, adopting a Kung Fu pose now that his weapon had been destroyed. The agent rushed him, just like Ron wanted him to. The blonde slipped to the floor, rolling out of the way of the agent's attack and getting up just as quickly. His opponent swiped at him again, and Ron rolled to the side to avoid it. He kept this pattern up for several more blows, trying to tire his opponent out. The downside was that he was expending significant energy as well. He couldn't hold out forever.

Shego, on the other hand, seemed like she could go on indefinitely, adopting a more offensive strategy that involved swipes and roundhouse kicks. She carved trails through the air with her flaming talons, attempting to slash the agent's face off. She was actually beating him back, spurred on by the fact that she was protecting Kim. Seeing an opening, she launched her foot at the agent's stomach. Before she could reach her goal, however, a pair of massive hands clamped around her ankle, trapping her. Not one to give up so easily, Shego pushed off her left foot and spun around, clocking the agent in the side of the face. She fell to the ground as her opponent let go and staggered back.

Standing up and igniting her hands, Shego launched herself into a flying tackle, intent on slamming the agent into a wall. Her opponent was quicker than she thought, however, and he not only sidestepped her attack but also grabbed her by the foot again, swinging her 360 degrees and hammer-throwing her right into Ron.

They collided with an "Oomph!" and rolled across the floor. Getting up, they faced the two agents, who now had them cornered. They exchanged a worried glance.

Meanwhile, Kim was surviving against her agent, but was unable to do much more than that. Dropping into a handstand, she twirled around twice and struck the agent in the face. She used his momentary distraction to her advantage, sweeping his legs and standing to her feet. She took a quick breath. This fight was harder than she'd anticipated.

Now on the offensive, Possible spun like a merry-go-round, planting her heel in the agent's stomach and her hand on his chest. The agent grabbed her arm and twisted it, hoping to pry it off. Kim simply spun with the movement, nullifying the tension. She reached out with her other arm as she spun, clocking the agent in the face and shattering his sunglasses. As he staggered back she prepared her foot for one last strike, moving it with great speed towards his Adam's apple….

…only to have her perfect finisher interrupted by a grab. Rather than try twisting her, the agent simply adopted the strategy of the other and hammer-threw her into the midst of Ron and Shego, toppling them like bowling pins once more.

"These guys are like the Bebes," Kim groaned as she got up. "Using the same moves. They must have some sort of hive mind."

"Something like that," Shego confirmed, backing up into Kim and Ron as the three formed a defensive circle against the advancing agents.

"What's up with them anyway?" Kim asked as they continued to move counterclockwise. "Who are they?"

"The source of your destruction," one of them replied.

"The Alpha of your Omega," the other added.

"The beginning of your end," the third finished.

"You guys are lame, y'know that?" Shego growled, igniting her hands. She looked to Kim, and subconsciously the two agreed to work together. Both of them looked to Ron, who nodded as well.

"Yeah," Kim agreed. "Black suits are _so_ last season." Even faced with such dangerous opponents as these, she still found time to mildly insult them.

The agents seemed to ignore the remark, advancing menacingly towards the group. Kim narrowed her eyes dangerously. "Bring it on."

The first agent charged forward, only to be met with a boot in the face. Kim lashed out with unnatural speed, having dropped into a Zen-like state. She raised her foot in the air as the agent fell, then spun around 360 degrees before bringing her heel crashing down. The agent saw this coming, however, and simply rolled out of the way, causing her foot to meet nothing but carpet.

Ron, meanwhile, had grabbed a ruler and was using it like a sword. He swiped at the agent, who ducked and caused Ron to sweep off a whole shelf of heavy books. This broke the ruler in the process, and Ron threw the splintered end at the agent before rolling backwards out of the way of the man's punch.

Shego slashed viciously at the third agent, incinerating his tie. She spun around and attempted a backhand move, only to have the agent grab her by the wrist and throw her towards Kim, who was having difficulty with her own agent.

Kim saw Shego coming, and without thinking, stretched out her hand. Shego unlit her hands and grabbed Possible, who swung her around towards the agent. Shego's feet hit the man's face with a satisfying crunch as his sunglasses broke. The two grinned at each other as Shego's feet hit the ground.

"Nice save, Princess."

"So not the drama."

The agents were now approaching them from opposite sides. Kim and Shego nodded to each other, each understanding what the other wanted to do. They held hands and leapt in the air, spinning in a circle and clocking both agents square in the face. They fell to the floor and leapt to their feet.

Ron was doing well against his opponent, drawing him in and lashing out, making use of the Drunken Monkey fighting style that was part of Tai Sheng Pek Kwar. He hooked his hands under the agent's lapels, head-butting him viciously and dropping him to the floor.. It would appear that they were winning the battle.

But not for long. As Kim, Ron and Shego closed in, two of the agents drew their guns. The trio stopped.

"This ends now," one agent opined.

"You are more trouble than you are worth."

"Prepare to die."

Not giving the threesome any chance to protest, the agents fired their guns, both aiming for Kim. As before, the redhead closed her eyes in fear.

Then it happened again.

Kim opened her eyes to find that the world had once more been bathed in green. She saw the rapid runoff of code, the bullets traveling towards her as though they were stuck in molasses. She focused only on the bullets. She knew she could stop them. Raising her hand in front of her, Kim simply acted on instinct.

The bullets stopped.

"Abort," an agent said.

"There is nothing we can do now. We have failed."

"You bet your ass you have," Kim sneered with psychotic glee. She placed her hands to her temples, intending to truly destroy the agents this time. A thin coat of green began to cover the agents.

"What is she doing?"

"This is not good."

Kim closed her eyes, concentrating harder. She had no idea what she was doing, but judging by the way that the agents appeared afraid, she supposed it was working. A small line of code began to slowly drain away from each agent, and their images began to waver.

"Uh, KP?" Ron said nervously, awed at the spectacle. Shego said nothing; she only grinned.

Suddenly a wind engulfed the room, sending several books and papers flying. As the various items swirled around, The agents began to disappear, code running off rapidly and being sucked into the tempest.

"That is not a power of The One," an agent opined.

"No. It is something else," one of his companions agreed.

"Smith," the three said in unison, just before their mouths disappeared.

Now the agents were purely code, caught in the massive whirlwind that engulfed the room. Each strand began to tear apart, becoming thinner and thinner until the individual symbols began to break down. Kim was smiling insanely through it all, holding her hands up and manipulating the individual strands of code like yarn. Eventually there was nothing left of the agents, and the wind died down, leaving a very stunned Ron and Shego to put together what had just happened.

Kim fell to her knees, gripping the sides of her head. Whatever presence had possessed her was now gone, and she trembled violently at what she had just done. "What the hell was that?!" she screamed before hyperventilating. "How the hell did I do that? What the hell came over me?"

Ron and Shego cast concerned glances towards each other before looking back at Kim. "I think we need to take you to see him," Shego spoke.

"Who?!" demanded Kim.

Ron sighed and said simply: "Morpheus."

* * *

Kim sat in the back seat of her car, too rattled to drive. Ron had taken the wheel, leaving Shego to sit in the passenger seat. Kim was a bit irate at having to sit in the back of her own car, but decided it wasn't important right now. Shego's brothers were following them in another car, having come at Shego's request. Given Kim's current state, Ron and Shego were respectfully quiet. Unable to stand it anymore, Kim broke the silence.

"What the hell just happened? What did I do to them?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you, Princess," Shego chimed in from the front. "But you'll find out the answers soon enough."

"So you two were in on this all along, huh?" Kim said indignantly. "You were never my enemy, were you?"

Shego grinned as she turned around to address Kim. "No, Princess, I wasn't. I was sent to make sure you didn't get into too much trouble. Stoppable here," she jerked her thumb towards Ron, "was assigned to watch over you by being your best friend." She turned back around.

"Assigned by who?" Kim demanded.

"Morpheus," Ron and Shego answered in unison.

"Oh. Who is he?"

Shego turned around again. "You'll find out soon enough. The answers are coming, I promise."

"So my whole life has been a lie? You two were just assigned to me?"

"You don't know the half of it," Shego stated simply. "We're here," she said, signaling for Ron to stop the car.

Kim stepped out of the car to get a better look at the building. It was old and dilapidated, with a sign that read, "Condemned" hanging in one of the windows. A dark sky loomed overhead, and Kim gulped nervously as she followed Ron and Shego into the building.

How long had this been going on? Was her whole life a lie? Was nothing for real? These thoughts were pushed to the side as they arrived at a heavy wooden door.

"Oh, and one more thing, Kimmie," Shego said as she placed her hand on the door handle.

"What?" Kim asked uncertainly.

"Be honest. He knows more than you can imagine."

Kim rolled her eyes. "Just let me in already."

"Whatever." Shego turned the ancient handle, pulling open the old oak door. Kim half expected it to creak.

Walking in, she was confronted with a room that looked far more regal than the dilapidated condition of the building would have suggested. In the center of the room, there were two red leather chairs, positioned opposite each other, with a small coffee table in between. On the table was a glass of water and a chrome container. Kim wasn't sure what was in the container, but she deduced it was probably pills due to the fact that there was a glass of water. A man sat in the chair furthest from the door. He had dark skin, and was wearing a pair of mirrored, rimless sunglasses, despite the fact that they were indoors. He stood up to greet her.

"Kim Possible," the man spoke in a deep voice that Kim found strangely comforting. "I have waited a long time to meet you. I am Morpheus," he greeted in a very formal tone as he bowed slightly and extended his hand, which Kim accepted and shook.

"It's an honor to meet you, sir."

The man smiled as though he were remembering something rather fondly. "The honor is all mine. Please, sit."

Kim complied, noting that Ron and Shego had walked to the other side of the room and were now disappearing behind a door, leaving her alone with Morpheus. "So why am I here?"

Morpheus chuckled. "Straight to business as always. I like that about you," he complimented as she sat down opposite Kim. "I suppose you're feeling a bit like Alice? Tumbling down the rabbit hole?"

"You must say that to everyone," Kim commented.

The man laughed. "Indeed I do. But it is a most effective way of breaking the ice. Many people who come to me are confused, seeking answers. Every time they get closer to the truth, something happens to put them even further back than they were when they started. Eventually it just seems like you're falling down a hole, grasping helplessly at half-truths and false leads, falling further and further away from the truth. It can be very frustrating. And so they come to me, the one rock in the endless tunnel, in the hopes that I may grant them the means to discover the truth. Well I have good news for you, Kim: I can. But it involves letting go, and seeing where the hole takes you. Are you willing to do this?"

Kim smirked. "I guess it couldn't hurt."

Morpheus smirked even bigger. "We will see."

"Can I ask you something?" Kim inquired.

The man leaned back in his chair and smiled. "Ask me anything."

"How can I trust you if you're working with Shego? She's a criminal. Even if she is no longer my enemy."

Morpheus just grinned. "A criminal according to whom?"

Kim scoffed. "Oh, I don't know, GJ, the eleven countries she's wanted in, oh not to mention the FBI!"

"And according to those same people, I am a terrorist," Morpheus replied with a smile. He leaned in closer. "Do you believe I am a terrorist, Kim?"

"I don't know what to believe anymore," Kim said seriously.

Morpheus laughed. "I know _exactly_ what you mean. Very few people who come to me do. Are you still willing to trust me?"

"I guess."

There was a momentary pause as Kim thought carefully over Morpheus' words. Finally, she spoke: "So why me?"

"You are no ordinary girl," Morpheus replied. "You have done extraordinary things in your short life. You have gotten out of situations that would decimate most platoons without so much as a scratch. You say you can do anything. He leaned in closer. "Tell me, Kim: why do you believe that is?"

Kim shrugged. "Just comes naturally, I guess."

The man grinned, as though he had been expecting that answer. "I see," he replied cryptically. Turning serious, he continued: "You have not been so sure of yourself as of late, though. Strange things have been happening, people have been dying, and you only accept what you see because you are expecting to wake up. Ironically, this is not far from the truth."

Kim responded with the only two words she could think of at that moment: "What truth?"

A toothy grin was Morpheus' reply. "That you are a _slave_, Kim. Born into a prison that you can neither see nor taste nor touch. A prison for your mind." He punctuated the statement by tapping his finger twice against his temple.

The redhead's face turned serious. "Is that what The Matrix is? A prison?"

Morpheus just smiled. "The Matrix is all around you. You see it when you go to school, when you're driving in your car." He smiled. "When you go on a mission. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth."

Kim said nothing, staring on in awe as the man in front of her gave words to what she had been struggling to piece together over the past several months.

"Unfortunately, no one can be told what The Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself." Kim giggled internally at that statement, finally understanding what Shego had been laughing about when they had chatted earlier. Morpheus said it so seriously that it was almost comical. She kept her composure, however.

Smoothly, Morpheus' dark hand glided down to the chrome case and picked it up. Inverting it, he produced two pills, one blue and one red. "I'm giving you a choice, Kim. After this, there is no going back. You take the blue pill, you wake up and believe… whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes."

Kim could see her reflection in both lenses of Morpheus' sunglasses, each image in front of a different pill. It wasn't a very hard decision. She wasn't going to come all this way just to back out now. She was a Blue Fox, after all. She reached for the red pill.

Morpheus' voice made her pause. "Remember: all I'm offering is the truth. Nothing more."

It still wasn't enough to deter her. Kim picked up the red pill in one hand, and held the glass of water in the other. She placed the pill in her mouth and swallowed, washing it down with the water.

Morpheus smiled. "Excellent. Let's go," he said as he stood up and began to move towards the door that Shego had gone through earlier. Kim followed.

As soon as she crossed the threshold, Kim was confronted with an array of equipment, operated by Wade, Ron, Shego, and the green woman's brothers. It was a mixture of phones, computers, and various hybrids of the two. Ron took Kim's hand and guided her to a chair that lay next to a shattered mirror. She looked up to her best friend.

"You did all this?" she asked in amazement, wondering why Morpheus seemed to chuckle at the statement. Ron grinned as well.

"Yep." He put a couple of wires on Kim, which the redhead recognized as heart monitors. What the hell was going on?

Kim did her best to keep from hyperventilating, but this was all just so disorientating. A few months ago, if someone had told her she would be in this situation, she would have laughed and told them they were crazy. Now she began to think she was the one who was insane. She watched disappointedly as Ron walked back over to the equipment and put on a set of earphones, abandoning her.

Trying to distract herself, Kim looked at the broken mirror. She laughed bitterly at how much it resembled her life, fractured and senseless, unable to ever be the same again. How perfectly fitting.

Which was why it took her by such surprise when the mirror seemed to turn to liquid, repairing itself before her very eyes. "What the…?" She trailed off. She turned to Morpheus. "Did you do that?" No response. Extending her finger out of curiosity, she discovered that the mirror had in fact turned to liquid metal, and even responded as such when she tried to pull out the digit, sticking to her skin. She stared at it in amazement, then horror when it began to expand. "What the hell?!"

Morpheus placed his hands behind his back and strode over to Kim. "Have you ever had a dream, Kim, that you were so sure was real? What if you were unable to wake from that dream? How would you be able to tell the difference between the dream world and the real world?"

Kim barely registered the remark, more focused on the metal slowly making its way up her arm. "C-cold…" she stammered. "It's so cold."

"Hurry up!" Shego shouted to Wade, who was typing away frantically at the keyboard. "We haven't got all day!"

"I'm trying!" the boy genius yelled back. "This is harder than it looks!"

"Well try harder!"

"Help…" Kim whispered. "Help me…." The metal was slowly making its way across her skin, already having consumed the lower regions. Now it was working its way higher, towards her head.

"Have you got a lock yet?!" Shego demanded.

"Almost there…."

"It's going into replication."

"Oh, God, it hurts!"

"Almost there…."

"It's going into arrest!"

"Help me! Somebody! Stop it!"

"Got it!"

A phone began to ring, but Kim only heard it for a moment before her ears were overtaken by the shiny substance. It moved towards the front of her face, over her eyes and nose, blinding and suffocating her. Finally, it plunged down her mouth, changing her screams into indecipherable electronic sounds, like a computer on the fritz.

Then everything went black.

* * *

Warmth.

Robbed of all her other senses, all Kim could feel was warmth. She could not see it, hear it, taste it, nor touch it, but she could feel it. It felt comforting, like warm sheets on a winter day. She didn't want to wake up. The dream was beckoning her again, exhorting her to stay in the comfort, the warmth, not to venture out into the cold and the unknown. There was happiness to be found in not knowing, bliss in ignorance. But she could not go back. She could never go back. She was awake now, but not fully conscious. She was still wrapped tightly in her sheets, not daring to face the world beyond her cocoon.

But, for the first time in her life, Kim had no choice.

Emerald eyes shot open, then closed again when they were assaulted with gooey liquid. Thin, lanky arms thrust forward, punching through some sort of membrane. She willed herself to sit up, and with great effort, performed the task. She tried to breathe, only to discover that something else was doing the job.

Twin hands gripped the breathing tube, pulling it out. It felt like someone had shoved a broomstick down her throat, it was that long. Kim gasped for air as she used her lungs for what seemed to be the very first time. Wiping the goo out of her eyes, she leaned over the edge. She couldn't believe what she saw.

Skyscrapers. They were as tall as skyscrapers. Filled with hundreds of thousands of little pods just like hers, huge arcs of electricity traveling up between them. She could see other people sleeping, unaware of her torment. She began to panic, putting her hands on her head. She gasped as her fingers made contact with cold steel, which seemed to be protruding from the soft flesh. Looking down, she saw several similar devices plugged into her arms and legs. She tried to scream, only to be silenced by the howling wind that suddenly blew over the area.

What the hell was going on?

Her panic was full-blown now, clouding her rationality and forcing her to operate purely on instinct. She sloshed around her tube like an animal, trying to break free. But it was futile. The plugs would not come out.

Then she froze.

Descending slowly, an absolutely hideous machine hovered in front of the girl, at once her savior and her doom. It could release her from her torment, but it probably didn't want to keep her around for very long afterward. Kim held her breath.

A clamp shot out, gripping her by the neck and lifting her out of the goop. Faced with the blistering cold, Kim realized for the first time that she was completely naked. She fought against the machine, but to no avail. The thing had her in a death grip. She tried to scream, only to find that she could not.

One by one, the plugs began to come out, ripping themselves forcefully from her arms, legs, and spine, and finally, her head. She suddenly felt dizzy, and collapsed back in the tube as the water was suddenly flushed out.

And so Kim fell down the endless tunnel, the metaphorical rabbit hole now having taken form and substance. She fought the urge to grasp helplessly, remembering Morpheus' words. '_Let's see where this thing goes,_' she told herself.

It turned out, it led to a big dump-off of water. Too exhausted to swim, Kim merely flailed her arms in a vain attempt to stay above the surface in the presence of the powerful currents. Soon she was being dragged under the water.

Suddenly, a light shone upon her, blinding her and beckoning her back to the surface. With the last of her strength, Kim fought her way back up, then sank once more when she could not fight any longer. Her muscles burned. She could not go on.

Fortunately, she didn't have to.

What looked like a giant mechanical hand attached to a chain descended rapidly towards her, hoisting her out of the water. Kim lazily blinked her now sore eyes as she wondered just where the hell she was being taken. It didn't really matter. Anything was better than a watery grave.

Once inside, Kim saw several familiar faces: Ron, Shego, Hego, Mego, the Wegos, and finally, Morpheus. He was dressed far more humbly than she remembered. He stepped forward and said simply: "Welcome to the real world."

* * *

_Dun! Dun! Dun! Well, it seems this story is destined to have longer chapters than my usual fare, which should make it quite an undertaking indeed. Don't worry; I'll still find the time to update my other stories. I've been following the movie plot pretty closely so far, but after the next chapter, which deals with Kim's training, I'll begin to deviate from it._

_Shego's lecture on Cartesian philosophy is based on my own recollection of my philosophy class, and naturally does not encompass all of his philosophy. It does, however, tie in with Morpheus' remark when Kim touches the mirror. There will be several more references to philosophy in this fic, since it happens to be something I am somewhat knowledgeable about. I am by no means an expert, but I know enough._

_Next, Kim learns the truth._

**beeftony**


	4. You Can't Handle the Truth!

_Kim Possible, Ron Stoppable, and all related characters are the property of the Disney Company. I own this work of fiction. I make no profit from this.  
_

_**The Matrix**__ is the property of Warner Brothers, © the Wachowski brothers._

_I'm trying a new style of author's notes in this chapter by including footnotes. Numbers will appear in parentheses and be listed at the end of the chapter above the usual A/N. This is due to the large amount of religious, philosophical, and cultural references inherent to the Matrix mythos. It also allows me to quickly reference things without breaking the flow of the story. Hope this works out reasonably well._

**Chapter 3**  
You Can't Handle the Truth!

* * *

_We accept the reality of the world with which we are presented._

-Christof, _The Truman Show_

* * *

Black. 

All she could see, smell, taste and touch was black. Darkness was her entire world. But it was not the bad kind of darkness. In fact it was quite peaceful. The quiet kind of darkness that came when she shut off the light before going to sleep. It covered her like a blanket, urging her to stay there forever. She did not want to get up. She did not want any more nightmares.

But even in sleep, there was no escape. Ripped from the peaceful black, Kim was suddenly confronted with greenish rain. Moss-colored hues covered nearly every surface. She looked up and gasped as she saw millions upon millions of men in suits, all of whom looked exactly the same. They lined the streets, the buildings, everywhere, extending as far as she could see. They were looking at something. Something in the sky. She followed their line of sight and saw something incredible.

There were two figures in the sky, circling each other. One appeared to be wearing some sort of robe, while the other looked exactly like the millions of agents who lined the streets and buildings. How she could tell from this distance she didn't know, but she felt as though she had seen this before. Lived it, in fact. She didn't know how she knew, but this was all very familiar to her.

The man in the suit appeared to have separated from the duel momentarily and now moved across the sky in a slow arc, building up speed. The man in the robe drew his fist back for a punch. They collided with a force so great that it caused a globe of water to emanate from the point where they collided. Kim saw the man in the robe falling, stunned for a moment, too weakened to fly.

Taking advantage of his adversary's predicament, the man in the suit grappled him and hurtled like a meteor towards the ground. Traveling even faster than the raindrops, they hit the ground with so much force that it formed a crater in the intersection. The other men in suits walked over to investigate.

There was no way anyone could have survived that. But still—she was curious. Kim walked over and, to her surprise, the men in suits parted and allowed her to step through, as though they noticed her but didn't care. As if she were meant to see this. She discovered that the men were not only still alive; they were talking.

"Why, Mr. Anderson?" the man in the suit asked as the man in the robe began to get up. "Why do you do it? Why get up? Why keep fighting? Do you believe you're fighting _for_ something? For more that your survival? Can you tell me what it is? Do you even _know_? Is it freedom? Or truth? Perhaps peace? Yes? No? Could it be for love? Illusions, Mr. Anderson. Vagaries of perception. The temporary constructs of a feeble human intellect trying desperately to justify an existence that is without meaning or purpose. And all of them as artificial as the Matrix itself. Although, only a human mind could invent something as insipid as _love_. You must be able to see it, Mr. Anderson. You must know it by now. You can't win. It's pointless to keep fighting. Why, Mr. Anderson? Why, why do you persist?"

The man in the robe looked at him calmly and replied, "Because I choose to."

The man in the suit did not appear satisfied with this response, and swung at the newly identified "Mr. Anderson." The blow was easily blocked, however, and "Mr. Anderson" hit the man so hard that his fist left an imprint on his face. Taking advantage of the fact that his foe was stunned, "Mr. Anderson" punched him with such force that the man went through the wall. He appeared to stumble, the blow having drained the last of his energy. He looked up, right into Kim's eyes for only a brief second before the ground began to rumble.

The man in the suit emerged from the mud, hovering in several feet above the bottom of the hole. "This is my world! My world!" he cried before swooping down and tackling "Mr. Anderson" to the ground.

Already exhausted, "Mr. Anderson" yielded easily and fell to the ground. Triumphantly, the man in the suit walked over to him to deliver the final blow. But something made him stop. "Wait... I've seen this. This is it, this is the end! Yes, you were laying right there, just like that, and I... I... I stand here, right here, I'm... I'm supposed to say something. I say... Everything that has a beginning has an end, Neo."

At this, "Neo" opened his eyes and started to stand, despite the fact that any normal human would have been killed several times over by now.

The man in the suit was now afraid, as though he had not been expecting this. "What? What did I just say? No... No, this isn't right, this can't be right. Get away from me!"

Neo smirked. "What are you afraid of?"

"It's a trick!"

"You were right, Smith. You were always right. It was inevitable." Neo stood still as the man now identified as "Smith" plunged his hand into his chest. What seemed to be liquid metal consumed him, covering every inch of his body. Rather than struggle, Neo closed his eyes and accepted his fate as the last of the material washed over his face. Soon he looked exactly like Smith. Kim suddenly realized where all these copies had come from.

Panting heavily, Smith asked the duplicate, "Is it over?"

The Smith clone nodded.

Kim suddenly found herself filled with dread. What did this mean? Who were these men? Why was she supposed to see this?

Those questions were pushed to the side as the clones' sunglasses began to crack, a light behind them shining through.

"Oh, no, no, no. No, it's not fair," Smith lamented in realization. But it was too late. The sunglasses of the other clones began to glow white as well, as though some sort of infection were spreading among them. Soon Smith's own eyes began to glow pure white. Kim covered her eyes.

Then everything disappeared in a blinding flash of pure light.

* * *

Light. Blinding her. Keeping her from opening her eyes. Was there no stop to it? Would she never see again? 

Suddenly the light was moved and Kim saw the now familiar face of Morpheus, as well as that of Shego.

"Am I dead?" she breathed.

"Far from it," she heard Morpheus reply before she drifted off back to sleep.

* * *

When she next awoke, she was confronted with an odd prickling sensation. Curious as to what it was, she looked up and saw hundreds of acupuncture needles sticking out of her naked body. "What are you doing to me?" she asked weakly. 

"Your muscles have atrophied; we're rebuilding them," Morpheus answered.

"Why do my eyes hurt?"

Morpheus appeared to smile reminiscently. "You've never used them before." He reached his hand down and stroked her head, reminding Kim that she was now bald. "Rest, Kim; the answers are coming."

* * *

Now she was lying on a cot, an IV stuck in one of the metal plugs in her arm. She sat up with as much speed as her tired muscles would allow, which wasn't very fast. 

Grabbing the IV, she clenched her fist and pulled it out, trying to ignore the pain. She gritted her teeth and, with great effort, the needle finally came free. She let out a sigh and placed her hand to her head, inching closer to where she had remembered a plug being. She was just about to touch it when….

A creak at the door alerted her to the fact that someone was entering her room. She gasped and prepared to fight them and run out, if necessary. Not that her tired body could actually accomplish the task. She held her breath, then sighed in relief when she saw the familiar face of Morpheus emerge from behind the metal door. At least they had something in common: they were both bald.

"Where am I?" she asked. "What is this place?'

Morpheus held up an index finger. "More important than what is when. You believe it is the year 2017, when in fact it is closer to 2217. I can't tell you what year it is because we honestly don't know."

Kim just stared at him blankly.

Morpheus smiled in sympathy and offered his hand. "Come on. I've got something to show you."

She complied, having no other choice but to follow this man who was her only connection in this strange place. He led her to a ladder, then proceeded to climb up it. She followed.

"This is my ship, the Nebuchadnezzar II," Morpheus announced. "It's a hovercraft. Most of my crew you already know." As if to punctuate his statement, Shego emerged from a hole where she had been welding something and removed her mask. Hego, Mego, and the Wegos were standing in various places around the deck, while Ron stood in a corner, not looking at her. There were three others she didn't recognize.

One was a man, Asian by the looks of him, with a sharp goatee and black hair. Another was a dark-skinned woman that sort of reminded Kim of Monique. The third was an even darker man with long braids for hair. Morpheus made the introductions. "Those you don't know: Ghost, Niobe, and Link." He pointed to each of them in order. Kim waved a feeble hello.

Morpheus turned to Kim and put his hands on her shoulders, a gesture the until recently redhead found strangely comforting, like something a father would do. "You wanted to know what The Matrix is?" he asked rhetorically.

Kim nodded.

Morpheus led her over to a chair with several medical monitors next to it. Settling down in the chair, but still on edge, Kim looked to Ron for comfort, only to find that he turned away. Part of her wanted to call after him, but she decided to let it go. Shego, however, gripped Kim's hand in support.

Hego moved behind Kim and grabbed a cylindrical metal object with a large needle protruding from it, not unlike the IV she had pulled out earlier. But judging from the hole in the headrest of the chair, it was probably not designed to go into her arm. Morpheus offered a word of caution: "Try to relax. This is going to feel… a little weird."

Kim whimpered at the warning, but braced herself nonetheless. She saw what he meant when the needle was suddenly driven into the plug in the back of her head, and she let loose a very loud scream.

* * *

Suddenly the searing pain was gone, and Kim opened her eyes to find herself surrounded by white. There were no walls or ceiling, and the only way that she was sure there was a floor was because she was not currently falling. It seemed to go on forever. Her eyes were firmly rooted to her shoes, not sure if this was real or just another dream. 

She looked up saw the now familiar face of Morpheus grinning at her. "This is the construct," he said with a slightly raised voice to compensate for the distance between them. The dark-skinned man started to move forward. "It's our loading program. From here we can load anything from clothing, equipment, weapons, training simulations… anything we need."

Kim raised an eyebrow. "You mean… right now we're inside a computer program?"

"Is it really so hard to believe?" Morpheus challenged. "Your clothes are different, the plugs in your arms and legs are gone, even your hair has changed." Kim looked herself over and found that this was indeed the case. Upon discovering her hair, she hugged the auburn locks, determined never to let them go again. The sentimental moment was soon broken as Morpheus continued: "What you're looking at now is what we call Residual Self Image. It is the visual representation of your digital self."

Kim strolled over to the two chairs and a television set that had suddenly appeared as if out of nowhere. She hesitantly reached her hand out and touched one of the chairs. "This… this isn't real?"

"What is 'real?' How do you define 'real?' If 'real' is what you can see, hear, taste or touch then 'real' is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain."

Kim's eyes widened as she took in the profound words and compared them to Shego's lecture. She really couldn't tell if she was awake or dreaming. The realization only made the knot in her stomach tighter as everything she thought she knew continued to be revealed as lies.

Morpheus wasn't done yet. Sitting down in one of the chairs, he produced a remote and pointed it at the screen. "This is the world as you know it." A video clip played on the screen and Kim saw many familiar buildings that she recognized as the New York skyline. She saw a crowd of people walking opposite ways down a busy sidewalk, somehow managing not to run into one another. "The peak of human civilization. It exists today only as part of a neural interactive simulation that we call The Matrix." He looked to the stunned redhead. "You've been living in a dream world, Kim."

He hovered his finger just above another button on the remote. "This is the world as it exists today."

Suddenly the white disappeared and was replaced with gray. Kim looked up and saw lightning arcing through an endless sea of clouds, below them the ruins of once proud skyscrapers that had turned to rubble due to centuries of neglect. She looked down and saw that Morpheus was still sitting in that leather chair, holding the remote. Kim suddenly didn't doubt that this was all a simulation. But it was still confusing.

"Welcome to the desert of the real," Morpheus said ominously. "At the turn of the twenty-first century, mankind was united in celebration. We marveled at our own achievements as we gave birth to A.I."

"A.I.?" Kim repeated. "You mean Artificial Intelligence?"

Morpheus nodded. "A singular consciousness that spawned an entire race of machines. We don't know who struck first: us or them. But we do know it was us who scorched the sky." Kim looked up again and noted that the clouds seemed to go on forever. "At the time they were dependent on solar power and it was believed that they would not be able to survive without an energy source as abundant as the sun." He chuckled bitterly. "Throughout human history we have been dependent on machines to survive. Fate, it seems, is not without a sense of irony."

The scenery changed again. This looked somewhat familiar to Kim, though it just reminded her of how deep she had gotten herself into this mess. Morpheus continued with his commentary: "The human body generates more bioelectricity than a one hundred-twenty volt battery, and puts out over twenty-five thousand BTUs of body heat. Combined with a form of fusion, the machines had found all the energy they would ever need."

"There are fields; endless fields, where we humans are no longer 'born;' we are grown." The shot panned out, and Kim saw hundreds of thousands of capsules, with little infants inside. Titanic machines hovered over the fields, using massive tentacles to 'pick' the capsules like some perverted form of berry. "For the longest time I wouldn't believe it. And then I saw the fields with my own eyes. Watched them liquefy the dead so that they could be fed intravenously to the living. As I stood there, watching the pure, horrifying precision of it all, I came to realize the truth."

The white suddenly returned, the image of a baby being inserted into its capsule having been returned to the TV screen. Kim started to back away, suddenly scared. "What is the Matrix?" Morpheus asked rhetorically as he moved to shut off the TV. "Control. Deception. An interactive dream world designed to turn a human being into this." He held up a C battery.

Kim started to hyperventilate. "No. It's not true. I don't believe it."

"I didn't say it would be easy, Kim. I just said it would be the truth."

Kim wasn't listening. She had a maddened look in her eyes as she stumbled away from Morpheus, searching for an exit. "Out! I want out! Get me out of here!"

* * *

Her wish was granted and the dull tones of the real world returned. She saw the faces of Hego and Shego standing over her as she struggled to get out, only to realize that she was still plugged in. "Get me out of this thing!" she demanded, struggling against her captors. 

As soon as she was unplugged, she forced her way past their restraining arms, stumbling across the floor as her vision began to blur. "Don't touch me! Get away from me! I don't believe it! I don't… believe…." She fell to the floor, struggling to….

"Breathe, Kim! Breathe!" Morpheus encouraged, but Kim could not. She deposited her last meal on the floor before passing out.

* * *

"I can't go back, can I?" Kim asked numbly as she lay on her cot with her back turned to Morpheus, who sat by the door. 

"No," Morpheus answered. "But if you could, would you really want to?"

Kim's first instinct was to answer, "Yes," but she thought about it. Did not knowing that you were a slave change the fact that you still were one? Was ignorance really bliss? Would she really have been better off not knowing?

These questions remained unanswered as Morpheus continued. "We have a rule. We never free a mind once it's reached a certain age. There are complications; the mind has trouble letting go. I've seen it before and I'm sorry. I did what I did because… I had to."

This caused Kim to turn to Morpheus and eye him with curiosity. He smiled softly and continued. "I asked you before how you thought you were able to 'do anything.' Your reply was, 'It just comes naturally.' You don't know how right you are."

Kim quirked an eyebrow. "Huh?"

"The Matrix is, for the most part, the most flawless example of computer programming ever created, but it is not perfect. The first two versions of The Matrix were of two extremes. The first was a perfect world, but no one would accept it because it was _too_ perfect. So it was redesigned based on the horrors of human history. But again, it was not accurate. People kept waking up. Eventually the machines realized that in order to create an accurate rendition of human civilization, they needed to introduce a concept they knew practically nothing about."

"Choice," Kim answered automatically, though she had no idea where that had come from.

A toothy grin spread across Morpheus' face. "Exactly. We humans of course were only aware of the choice on a subconscious level, but we still had the illusion that we were making our own decisions. But since choice is not logical, it caused an… 'unexpected' glitch in the programming. This 'anomaly' is what we call 'The One.'" He paused for effect.

"The One had the power to see the code; to remake The Matrix as he saw fit. It was he who freed the first of us. Until eighteen years ago, we were under the impression that The One was the first person to ever escape The Matrix, but it was revealed to Neo, his reincarnation, that there were actually six Ones, one for each version of The Matrix. Neo was the sixth."

"And I'm the seventh?" Kim guessed. Suddenly her abilities were beginning to make slightly more sense. '_Neo… the man in my dream. But what does that mean?_'

Morpheus smiled. "Not exactly."

Kim wrinkled her nose. "Well then why did you free me?"

As was typical of Morpheus, his answer was long and complicated: "When Neo learned the truth, he was given the option to either go to the source and pick out a new group of humans to release and rebuild Zion, or—"

"Zion?"

"It is the last human city, located near the center of the Earth. This ship has to have somewhere to return to, after all," he replied with a wink. "Zion was under attack by the machines, and Neo had been dispatched into The Matrix because of a prophecy that foretold that he would end the war between the humans and the machines." He chuckled bitterly. "I believed it more than anybody. But it turned out to be just another system of control."

"Well then what happened?" This was starting to get interesting.

"Neo took the second option, which was to return to The Matrix and rescue the woman he loved, Trinity." A sad expression made its way onto his face when he said that name. "He succeeded, but the machines were still coming to destroy Zion. At that point there was only one thing he could do."

Kim stared wide-eyed. "What?"

"He went to the machine city and sacrificed himself for Zion. He made a deal: if he defeated Smith, then Zion would be spared."

She remembered that name from her dream. "Smith?"

Morpheus nodded solemnly. "Neo's antithesis. The only one who could stand against the overwhelming power of The One. He was once an agent of the system, but Neo inadvertently freed him. From there he began to spread like a virus through The Matrix, copying his code and creating an endless stream of clones. Neo allowed himself to be assimilated so that the machines could use him as a gateway to erase Smith from the system. He succeeded, and Zion was saved."

'_That was what the dream was about. Now it makes a little more sense._' "So why am I here?" Kim asked.

"Neo died as a result of the process, and his code was fragmented. You received part of his code, the part that could influence The Matrix directly. But there are still other anomalies out there."

"Like Shego."

"And Ron, Hego, Mego, and Wego. Their power comes from The Matrix, and can only manifest itself there. However, you are special."

"How?"

Morpheus grinned. "Your power extends beyond The Matrix. You can see the future, deactivate machines just by thinking about it, and see even when your eyes have been destroyed. But inside The Matrix, you can truly do anything."

"Even stop bullets?"

Morpheus nodded. "But with every blessing comes a curse."

Kim raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Since Neo had become a clone of Smith, part of Smith's code was bonded to his, and thus you received that as well. That is what happened when you destroyed those agents."

"So… if I use it too much then Smith takes over?"

Morpheus nodded.

"Oh."

Morpheus stood up and opened the door. "I'm not saying you should be afraid of your power, Kim, but be careful. Smith is capable of greater evil than you ever want to know." With that, he stepped through the door and walked out, leaving Kim to process what she had just been told.

She had part of Smith's code? What did that mean for her? What would happen if she lost control? She didn't want to think about it.

Kim was good, and if something evil ever took her over she could never live with herself. At that moment, she resolved to never use her power unless she absolutely had to. It was too much of a risk, one that she was not willing to take.

'_Now I know how Ron feels,_' she mused to herself before closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep.

* * *

While Kim slept, another member of the Neb II's crew stayed awake. Her raven black hair bounced behind her as she carried a tray of food to the exhausted redhead's cabin. Placing it down next to Kim, Shego exited the room as quietly as she could. After closing the door with a cringe-worthy squeak, she turned around to find herself face to face with a set of chocolate brown eyes. Anyone else would have screamed. Shego, on the other hand, merely rolled her eyes. 

"What are you doing here?"

"I don't remember you ever bringing _me_ dinner," the blonde complained.

Shego scoffed. "Please. You're the only one of us who didn't pop. You accepted the truth right away. 'Course, you always were too trusting."

"It's not like I mind," the boy replied. "You and I never were that close. Actually, it gets me out of having to comfort her myself."

"You're really serious about keeping your distance, aren't you, _Ron_?" she inquired, using the name that he had adopted during his time as Kim's friend for the sake of needling him. He closed his eyes and sighed.

"I don't go by that name anymore. It's Hanuman (1). You know that."

"Whatever. At least _I _didn't abandon her when she needed me the most."

The blonde lowered his head. "I'm tired of lying to her, Shego. I can't live with myself if I keep leading her on like this. I got too attached. It's time to let her go."

"This from the guy who told me she was the best damn thing that ever happened to him. You got to go to some imaginary prom with her while I got kicked into a nonexistent tower that, despite me telling myself it wasn't real, still hurt like hell. Why would you give that up?"

"Hanuman" closed his eyes. "Because every time I look at her, I'm reminded of how much I'd be hurting her in the long run if I stayed with her. At the start of the mission, I told myself that I'd just be friends with KP, like we'd always been. I mean, her power hadn't activated yet, and I didn't wanna get too close. She's too much like a sister to me, Shego. I wasn't able to give her all the love she deserves. But I let my impulses get in the way of how I really felt."

"That why you always acted like such a buffoon? To drive her away?"

He nodded. "I thought she would be too shallow to pay any attention to me that way. But apparently she liked the fact that I stuck with her all that time. I was just following the orders I received for the mission! I never guessed she would actually appreciate loyalty that much."

Shego smirked. "So now, instead of just breaking it to her gently that you don't love her and being her friend, you're removing yourself from her life completely? How fair is that?"

"It's not," the boy admitted. "But it's the only way. You and I both know how possessive KP can be. The only way to get back to the way things were is to leave her completely alone for awhile."

"That plan's even worse than one of Drakken's hare-brained schemes."

The blonde smirked. "It doesn't have to make sense to you. It's my choice. And I'm choosing to let KP figure this one out on her own."

"Whatever," Shego said, feigning disinterest. In truth, however, she was concerned. As Ron walked off, she thought to herself, '_Great,_ _guess I'm the one who has to clean up after your mess. As always._' With that, she rolled her eyes and returned to her own quarters.

* * *

Kim awoke to the creak of her door. She was still getting used to that. The man now identified as Link stepped through. "How'd ya sleep?" he asked. 

"I've had better," Kim responded sardonically.

"You'll be sleeping like a baby tonight; I guarantee it."

"Joy."

There was an awkward silence for a few seconds before Link spoke again. "So I take it you're familiar with Wade. I designed him, you know."

Kim arched an eyebrow. "Wait, Wade's a computer program?"

Link nodded. "I created him as a search engine. He's capable of linking up with the Construct too, so he can load pretty much anything he wants."

"_That's_ how he was able to get stuff into my backpack," Kim realized.

Link smiled like a proud father. "Come on. We've got a long day of training ahead of us."

Kim followed him to the main deck, where he motioned for her to sit down in a chair while he took a seat behind the half dozen monitors that in some ways resembled Wade's setup. Kim chuckled. '_Like father like son,_' she mused.

"Now, I'm supposed to start with these operating programs, but like my brother-in-law Tank used to say, it's a bunch of shit." Kim blanched at the curse word. "How 'bout something more exciting, like… combat training?"

"I already know sixteen styles of Kung Fu," Kim pointed out with annoyance.

"But I doubt you ever learned like this," Link retorted, inserting a disk. A 3-D model of a man popped up on one of the screens. Below it was written, "Ju-Jitsu."

"I'll admit I don't know that one," Kim said. "How's it work, anyway?"

"Like this," Link answered, hitting the "Enter" key.

Kim's brain was suddenly assaulted with a tidal wave of information. Her eyelids fluttered and her eyes rolled into the back of her head as her neurons attempted to process the massive stream of data. After a few seconds, Kim let out a sigh like a woman coming down from her greatest orgasm. (2)

"Hey, I think she likes it," Link commented with satisfaction. "You want some more?"

"Yes," Kim breathed. "Hell yes."

Some time later, two members of the Neb II's crew walked up behind Link. "How's she doing?" Shego asked.

"Ten hours straight. She's a machine," Link replied. Morpheus couldn't help but smile at the familiar words.

Kim had been absorbing information like crazy, having finished with the Kung Fu styles hours ago and now learning styles such as Tae Kwon Do, Kempo, even Karate. She opened her eyes and took in a satisfied breath. Shego walked over and smiled.

"Why don't we see what you learned in school today, Pumpkin?"

Kim nodded, eager to test out the new styles she had just learned.

* * *

Kim found herself standing in a dojo, the look of which had become quite familiar to her over her many years of training. A straw floor took up most of the room, surrounded by inlaid wood. Pillars supported the inaccessible second level, whose walls were made of paper. A weapons rack sat in the corner. She was dressed in a white gi with a blue belt, even though her skill level was higher than that. Kim guessed that it was purely aesthetic. After all, she was trained in Kung Fu, not Karate. 

Across from her stood Shego, who was clad in a green gi with a black belt. It wasn't as form-fitting as her catsuit, but it still hugged her body tightly enough to show off her impressive curves. Her pale feet and hands were exposed due to the fact that the gi had no gloves or boots. Still, Kim marveled at how sharp those black nails appeared. It didn't surprise her, since Shego primarily practiced the Eagle style of Kung Fu, which involved raking motions with the fingernails. Given the nature of Shego's powers, this came as no surprise. But Kim also knew that the green woman mixed in some kicks and grapples to make her a truly dangerous close quarters combatant.

Kim, on the other hand, was a striker, drawing heavily from the Northern Chinese and Korean styles. She preferred acrobatics and kicks to punches and swipes, operating on the notion that a moving target was harder to hit. Her style was more defensive, while Shego's was offensive. Their diametrically opposed approaches made them evenly matched, and their fights could go on indefinitely. They had always been extraordinary. Now the gloves were truly off.

Morpheus stood between them, acting as the referee for the fight. He turned to Kim and spoke. "This is our sparring program. It's part of the construct, and operates on the same basic rules as The Matrix. Rules like gravity. What you must learn to understand is that these rules are no different than the rules of a computer system. Some can be bent, others can be broken. Begin." With that, he stepped back to the side of the room and simply observed the fight.

"Ready when you are, Princess," Shego said with a smirk as she dropped into a fighting stance, fingers separated and palms up. "Let's see what you can really do."

For the first time in her life, Kim didn't want to hurt Shego. After doing what she did to those agents, she didn't want the same thing to happen to the woman whom she had recently discovered had been on her side the entire time, even if she was feeling a little indignant about being lied to that long. Then again, considering the nature of the truth, she couldn't say she blamed her. But it was still enough to create a bit of tension between her and the pale woman.

She had chosen to fight Shego because the green woman was the only one who ever stood a chance against her. She wouldn't get hurt too badly. Kim was curious to see what her powers enabled her to do, but she also remembered Morpheus' warning about Smith. She had to be very careful, or she might end up doing something she was going to regret. Kim resolved to fight Shego the old fashioned way.

"Bring it on," she challenged.

Shego brought it full force, rushing towards Kim with incredible speed and swiping at her head. Kim ducked quickly and responded with a swift uppercut. The pale woman moved her head backwards to avoid the strike, buying Kim just enough time to spin around with her right leg fully extended and slam her calf into Shego's left side.

The green woman wrapped her arm around the leg, trapping her opponent. Kim struggled and tried to get out of the hold, but it was useless. Shego grabbed Kim quite forcefully by the front of her gi and threw the girl across the straw floor. The redhead was a bit stunned, but she recovered quickly and stood to her feet just in time to see Shego charging at her again.

Kim rushed towards Shego with the same speed, raising her right leg in the air just before they reached each other and swinging it horizontally towards the green woman's head. Shego ducked low to the floor and attempted to sweep out Kim's other leg, but her opponent simply jumped over it. Kim twirled as she touched the ground, using the momentum to swing her fist towards the newly arisen Shego's face.

The green woman caught the punch with her left hand and responded with a vicious swipe towards Kim's midsection. The redhead dodged, the claws missing her soft skin by mere millimeters. She felt the wind as Shego's talons whooshed by. Jerking her hand free, Kim attempted to put some distance between herself and her opponent.

"You're holding back, Princess," Shego taunted, not even breathing heavily.

"Says the woman who hasn't even used her powers yet," Kim retorted.

"What say we up the ante, then?" Shego challenged, igniting her hands in a burst of green and black flame.

"Let's," Kim replied, dropping into a defensive position and smiling. The adrenaline rush that she loved so much was finally beginning to kick in. If it hadn't been for the imminent threat of global annihilation in the past, her fights with Shego would have lasted a lot longer. There was something about the green woman that seemed to bring out the best in her. Now that they were no longer enemies and only sparring, she had all the time in the world. She began to slowly circle her opponent before rushing forward with a punch.

Back in the real world, a Wego ran to the mess hall and alerted his brothers and Ron that, "Shego's fighting Kim!" This brought the whole group running.

Meanwhile, Kim and Shego were engaged in a full on fight. It was like watching a dance; neither truly managed to land a hit on the other, blocking and punching as though choreographed. In truth, it was their years of fighting each other that enabled them to predict the other's moves and respond almost as if they could read each other's minds. Everything else faded from their consciousness as they fought in their own little world.

Shego swung at Kim with an ignited hand, anticipating that the redhead would raise an arm to block. When her opponent did just that, she stopped mid-swing and raised her knee to Kim's now unprotected midsection. Kim saw that coming, however, and raised her own leg to block the strike. The exchange took less than two seconds. But that was apparently too slow for Shego.

"C'mon, Princess, you're faster than this," she prodded, hoping to provoke her into making a mistake.

Kim knew she was. But she also knew what might happen. She couldn't do it. She couldn't activate her power because she was afraid.

Morpheus saw this and frowned to himself. She was even worse about embracing her power than Neo had been. To be fair, Neo hadn't seen anything to convince him of his power, and the concept of destiny was foreign to him. But Kim had torn three agents to shreds and remembered every minute of it. Neo was easily defeated at first because had doubted himself. Kim was even worse off because she was afraid of her own power. It was time for him to intervene.

"Stop," he called. He walked over to Kim and placed his hands on her shoulders in support. "Kim," he said softly, "Don't be afraid. As long as your mind is strong and you know your limits, your dark side won't take control. But if you fear it, it will slowly gain power over you until you will be unable to resist. Control it. Don't let it control you." With that, he released her shoulders and walked back to the side of the room from which he had been observing the fight. "Again," he ordered.

With her confidence restored, Kim squared off against Shego once more, this time with an even bigger smile. Shego returned the grin. "Let's see what you've got, Princess."

Kim was prepared to show her when she remembered that she had no idea how to work her powers. They pretty much showed up whenever she was in extreme danger, which she wasn't right now. But Morpheus had told her that it was simply a matter of breaking the rules, a concept with which Kim was very unfamiliar. The only person she knew who thrived on it was Shego. She closed her eyes for a second and thought of the green woman's role in all this.

It had been Shego's presumed death that had convinced her to go on that initial mission where she had met the agents. Shego had been the one on her mind for all those months when she was searching for The Matrix. Shego was the one with whom she had chatted before learning the truth. Shego was the one who had fought by her side when the agents had ambushed her again. It was Shego who had….

Suddenly it hit her: Shego! The green woman was the common denominator on all of those occasions. Shego caused Kim to think differently; to look deeper than what was on the surface. It was thinking of Shego that allowed her to get into the relaxed state necessary to activate her powers. With this new realization in her mind, Kim opened her eyes and, just like she expected, saw thousands of lines of green code. She smiled.

Kim lunged forward with impossible speed, a red, white and blue blur to everyone's eyes but Shego's. To her, time had slowed down, and she saw Kim zooming straight towards her in a flying tackle. Shego literally bent over backwards, ducking under the strike as the redhead flew over her faster than a speeding bullet. Time returned to normal speed again, and Kim stared at the pale woman in amazement.

"How did you…" she began.

Shego smirked. "You're not the only one who got the powers of The One," she replied proudly. "Super speed is one of those things I never really showed you."

"So you can dodge bullets?"

"Yup. But you don't have to."

With that comment, Kim remembered that while Shego may be good, she was still better. It was time to end this fight. Circling her opponent slowly, Kim looked straight into Shego's eyes, which were now even greener than normal due to the code, for any signs that the now literally green woman may be planning an attack. Her muscles tensed. Her breathing became focused, and her eyes narrowed in concentration.

Shego made the first move, lunging forward and swinging towards Kim's midsection. Time seemed to crawl as Kim spun around with her arms outstretched diagonally, swatting Shego's hand down and hitting the pale woman in the back of the neck, bringing her to the ground.

Time sped back up and Kim's leg was a blur as she raised it in the air and brought her heel crashing down towards Shego. Everything slowed down once more as Shego not only rolled out of the way, but also swept Kim's other leg out from under her. She stood up with impossible speed while the redhead was still floating in the air and kicked her opponent in the gut, sending her barreling towards one of the pillars as time returned to normal speed.

Kim twisted in the air impossibly fast and kicked off the pillar, shattering it in the process and using the momentum to propel herself towards Shego's midsection. The green woman let out an "Oomph!" as Kim tackled her to the ground and both women rolled across the floor, fighting for dominance.

Back on the Neb II, everyone but Ron was slack-jawed as the entire series of moves had spanned less than one second. The blonde just turned and walked back to the mess hall.

"Goddamn, she's fast," Link whispered in awe. He hadn't thought that anybody could keep up with Shego. And yet here someone was giving the green lady a run for her money.

Morpheus was similarly impressed. Even Neo hadn't exactly caught on this quick. He had to be slapped around a few times by Morpheus before he had exercised his power. (3) Kim was nothing short of incredible.

The two ladies finally stopped rolling when Kim pinned Shego to the ground. The code vision disappeared and she looked upon the pale woman in all her beauty. Straddling her, she was mere inches from the green woman's face. She could feel Shego's warm breath on her cheek as her opponent panted beneath her. "Say it," she ordered.

"I'm your bee-yotch," Shego replied snidely, admitting in her own smart alecky way that she had lost.

"Not that!" Kim screeched, blushing heavily.

"Then what did you want me to say?"

"I—"

Kim's words were cut off by the sound of clapping from the end of the room. "Good," Morpheus congratulated. "Very good. It seems you've learned the secret to activating your powers at will, Kim."

"Uh, yeah," Kim replied blushing as red as her hair as she quickly separated herself from Shego. During the fight, she had been having some… "impure" thoughts about the pale woman. Thoughts that were basal, carnal, and even lustful. Instincts brought out by the fact that she had been reduced to a primal state, where she did not think; she reacted. She had pushed them aside during the battle, but as they assaulted her consciousness now, she couldn't help feeling a little flustered. Why would she be thinking about _Shego_ like that?

Besides the fact that she was a woman, there was still the whole fact that Shego had lied to Kim for so many years. But lust does not care about matters of the mind. Her body apparently wanted Shego, but her mind denied it. Or was it her mind that wanted Shego, since her body did not technically exist in The Matrix? It was all too confusing, and Kim simply pushed the thoughts out of her head like she had done after her 'dream.' Suddenly she didn't want to fight anymore.

Fortunately, she didn't have to. "Load the jump program," Morpheus called out to seemingly nobody.

The floor of the dojo disappeared, and a skyscraper came rushing up to meet them. Kim noticed that Shego was now dressed in her normal green and black catsuit, while she was clad in her normal mission clothes. Morpheus wore his trench coat and mirrored sunglasses.

"You have to let it all go, Kim," he spoke. "Free your mind." He pointed to his temple for emphasis. Kim rolled her eyes. Her mind was plenty free! A little too fond of wandering, in fact.

Morpheus seemed to ignore the gesture, turning around and running towards the edge of the roof. Pressing down hard on his legs, the dark skinned man crossed eight lanes of traffic with ease, landing on the building on the other side with such force that the concrete actually cracked beneath him. Kim crossed her arms, unimpressed. "I can do that," she proclaimed proudly.

Now that they were alone, Shego put her hand on Kim's shoulder and looked at her seriously. "Look, Kimmie, I never knew Neo, but from what Morpheus told me, even he didn't make the first jump. 'Course, that's 'cause he doubted himself, but you shouldn't be overconfident just 'cause you can rip an agent to shreds. This is completely different from fighting, Kim. You have to be calm for this. Understand?"

Kim nodded, somewhat happy at the fact that Shego had used her real name. "I can do anything, Shego. I'll be fine."

Shego smirked. "If you say so," she replied before turning around and jumping just like Morpheus had, landing so delicately that she didn't even disturb the concrete.

Now it was Kim's turn. She took a deep breath and focused. This was too easy. She'd never done this before without her grappling hook, but anything was possible for a Possible. She could do anything, dammit! Shego didn't know what she was talking about. Kim would just have to prove the green woman wrong.

With that thought in her head, Kim ran at top speed towards the edge of the roof and jumped without hesitation. Time seemed to slow as she sailed through the air…

…for a distance of ten feet before falling like a stone. As the wind rushed past her body, Kim went into denial. How was this possible? She'd made jumps longer than that before! She was The One! She was the girl who could…

…get distracted because her pride got in the way of her concentration. As she fell to her doom, Kim cursed herself for being so stupid. All that work for nothing. The ground came up fast and just when she thought it was all over, it stretched like rubber and swallowed her whole, spitting her back out and launching her about ten feet in the air. The asphalt rushed up and smacked her in the face, as though it too was disappointed by her display. All Kim could think of at that moment was how much falling really sucked.

* * *

The next thing Kim knew, she was waking up, and the plug was pulled from the back of her head. As she tried to sit up, she noticed that she ached considerably. Experimentally, she dipped two fingers into her mouth and discovered that she was bleeding. "I thought you said it wasn't real," she groaned. 

"Your mind makes it real," Morpheus replied simply.

Kim was suddenly struck with realization. "If you're killed in The Matrix, you die here?"

"The body cannot live without the mind."

"Great, more Descartes," Shego muttered as she got up. "I really wish you'd quit quoting him."

Kim arched an eyebrow. "I wouldn't have guessed that you hated him after that lecture you gave."

Shego rolled her eyes. "Please, Princess, I was just quoting Captain Cue Ball here." She jerked her thumb towards Morpheus. "I wasn't actually interested in what I was saying. I just needed to establish good cover so I could get close enough to protect you from those agents." She started to walk away. Not satisfied with the green woman's answer, Kim followed.

"That's not what you told Ron," she challenged. "And you said it too passionately to not be interested in it."

"Why the hell do you care, Princess?!" Shego exploded, yelling with such force that if Kim had any hair, it would have blown back.

It suddenly occurred to Kim that she didn't care. She was arguing with Shego over nothing. But why? Suddenly it hit her. "I… I guess I just didn't like being wrong about the jump is all. Now I've got this feeling in my head that I have to settle some sort of score between us."

"God, Princess, you just can't let go of your stupid pride, can you?" Shego chastised, making the knot in Kim's stomach grow even tighter. "Everybody falls the first time. Get over it."

Kim hung her head in shame. "I realize that. It's not the only thing I was wrong about."

Shego quirked an eyebrow. "Huh?"

"I was wrong about you, Shego. For years I labeled you as my enemy just because you worked with Drakken. But since I've been here, you've been the only one to really offer me any support. Ron's keeping his distance after the break up, Morpheus is too caught up in his speeches, and I don't know your brothers that well. But you've been anything but the sarcastic bitch that I always fought. I guess… I guess just now you reminded me that there's still a bit of the old Shego left. I'm not sure if I like that or not."

Then Shego did something Kim never expected her to do: she apologized. "Sorry, Princess," she said with a surprising sincerity. "I know this is a hard adjustment for you. But I promise I'll be here for you."

Kim was now beyond weirded out. She was frozen with shock. "Did you just say you'd… be here for me?"

"Did I stutter?" Shego quipped, her trademark sarcasm returning in an instant and wiping away all sentiment. "Since your ex-boyfriend's refusing the job and dome head doesn't know you well enough, that makes me the only one left. I don't like seeing anyone left alone in their time of need. Happened to me too much to make me want it to happen to anyone else. If you need anything, you know where to find me, Kim."

Kim smiled gratefully at the use of her real name. "Thanks, Shego."

"Anytime, Princess."

As the former redhead walked away, Shego thought to herself, '_Poor kid. Reminds me of when I first learned the truth. I thought it was oh so cool at first, but then I learned it comes with a price. I'd hate to have a family like yours taken away from me, Pumpkin. I'll be here for you any way I can._' With that, she headed back to her quarters for a well-deserved rest.

* * *

"Have you ever heard Plato's Allegory of the Cave, Kim?" Morpheus asked as they walked through throngs of people. Kim shook her head. She thought it was a bit early to be going back, but apparently Morpheus had his reasons. 

"Plato told the story of a small band of humans who had been raised in a cave," Morpheus continued, as though he didn't care whether Kim was actually listening to him or not. "They were provided with basic essentials like food and water, and for entertainment they would watch as men behind them walked behind a fire carrying puppets, whose shadows were animated against the wall. They never turned away from that wall, not that they could with their arms, legs, and heads chained into position. It was all they knew. And they certainly never left the cave."

Kim found it hard to listen as she pushed her way past the endless stream of businessmen and women, all clad in monotone grey and black. It was like wading through a sea devoid of color. Still, she did her best to lend an ear to Morpheus. She really did find what he said to be quite fascinating.

"One day, however, one of the group escaped from his chains and left the cave. When he saw the outside world and marveled at its beauty and expanse, the first thing he wanted to do was run back and tell his brothers what he had seen." Morpheus chuckled bitterly. "Like a fool, he did. The other prisoners refused to believe him. After all, how could they confirm what he was saying? How could they know any reality other than their own?"

Kim pondered those words for a second. That was how she had been once. All she knew was the world that had been pulled over her eyes.

"That is what going back into The Matrix after you have been freed is like," Morpheus continued. "Not everyone is ready to be freed. And some are so entrenched, so hopelessly dependent on the system, that they will fight to defend it."

'_Then why are we here?_' Kim thought. '_Why should we waste our time on people who are just going to laugh in our faces?_' Then she saw her answer.

Coming through the crowd was a blonde woman in a red dress, a single individual against the collective. A glimmering torch of red amongst an endless sea of grey. She stood out. She was not tempted to conform. At that point it hit Kim: she would not be here right now if people like that, people who weren't afraid to be different, hadn't come and told her the truth. The blonde woman deserved to know that same truth. She suddenly noticed that Morpheus had stopped.

"Were you listening to me, Kim? Or were you looking at the woman in the red dress?"

Kim was suddenly embarrassed. "I—"

"Look again."

It wasn't the fact that the barrel of a gun was being pointed at her face when she turned around that caused her to duck, nor was it the fact that it was an agent. It was the fact that it was Smith, the agent she had seen in her dream. She gasped and fell away from the gun.

"Freeze it," Morpheus called out. Everyone around them suddenly stopped, as though someone had hit the "pause" button on a remote.

"This isn't The Matrix?" Kim asked.

Morpheus shook his head. "It's another training program, designed to teach you one thing: if you are not one of us, you are one of them."

Kim put her hands on her hips. No offense, Morpheus, but I think I can handle a few agents."

"Of that I have no doubt," the dark-skinned teacher replied with a grin. "However, I want to warn you that while they are powerless against you, they are extremely crafty. One of them could take possession of a loved one. Would you still be willing to kill them even if it meant the host would die as well? Especially if the host was your mother?"

She hadn't thought of it like that. "No," she answered simply. "No, I wouldn't. I don't know what I'd do."

He nodded solemnly. "It is a difficult decision, one which you'll hopefully never have to make. But be warned: there is no such thing as right or wrong in The Matrix. Everything is based on rules, but those rules can be broken. Like the people around you, there will always be shades of grey wherever you look. Try to understand that there are no easy decisions. Not even in the dream world."

Kim simply closed her eyes and sighed. "I really can't go back to the way I was, can I?"

Morpheus simply shook his head with a sad expression on his face. "I'm afraid I can only show you the door. You're the one who has to walk through it. There is someone who can help you, Kim. Someone who can tell you what you need to hear. I think you're finally ready to see her."

"Who?" Kim asked.

Morpheus smiled. "The Oracle."

* * *

_1. Hanuman (Hanumat in some texts) was the Monkey god of India, who was cursed to not remember his vast power unless someone else reminded him of it. Seems a lot like Ron, huh?_

_2. Yes, I pretty much stole that line from Classic Cowboy's KP/Matrix crossover. Don't sue poor people._

_3. Again, lifted from Classic Cowboy. Seriously, we're all working with borrowed material here anyway. At least I'm admitting it._

_It looks like nine to ten thousand words will be pretty much standard for my chapters from here on out, as I'm trying to cover more plot points in each to minimize the number of chapters on this thing. It will still end up being over fifty thousand words when complete, however._

_Next, Kim meets the Oracle._

**beeftony**


	5. Know Thyself

_Kim Possible, Ron Stoppable, and all related characters are the property of the Disney Company. I own this work of fiction. I make no profit from this.  
_

_**The Matrix**__ is the property of Warner Brothers, © the Wachowski brothers._

**Chapter 4**  
Know Thyself

* * *

_How happy is the blameless vestal's lot!  
The world forgetting, by the world forgot.  
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!  
Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd._

-Alexander Pope, _Eloisa to Abelard_

* * *

It wasn't like Kim hadn't tried on clothes before. Hell, she probably did it more often than any other girl she knew. But somehow this was different. 

The fact that the clothes weren't real wasn't hard to accept, but the notion that they could be loaded out of thin air was a new and surprising experience to the redhead. So surprising, in fact, that she had to have Niobe and Shego there to help her pick out what she should wear. She would have just stood staring at the endless rows otherwise.

"I kinda like this one," Shego said, holding up a red leather trench coat. "You'll definitely have to wear this over the rest of the stuff."

Kim nodded, only half-listening. She remembered clothes-shopping with Shego once when the pale woman had been hit with a modified Attitudinator. It had been a fun experience, no doubt, but it was hampered by the constant feeling that it was all some sort of dream. The irony of that thought caused her to chuckle.

"What's so funny?" Shego inquired.

"Oh, nothing, it's just… I was thinking about all those clothes that I bought when I was still in The Matrix. And none of them were real. Man, if I'd known about this sooner, I could have done a lot less babysitting."

Shego snickered as she held up a pair of olive green cargo pants, which was one of the parts she absolutely loved about the redhead's old ensemble. They always looked as though they were ready to fall off, which made a nice contrast to Shego's own skin-tight bodysuit. These, however, were much tighter, which brought out the… curvier aspects of Kim's anatomy. She put it in the pile with the trench coat.

"That's the one thing you're gonna grow to hate about the real world," Niobe chimed in as she held up a black tank top that was cut off about where Kim's midriff would be. "No designer clothing." The three women shared a laugh.

With the basics of her outfit now in place, Kim went behind one of the racks to change, more out of a distrust of Link not to peek than modesty. When she came out, the redhead had added an item of her own: a pair of transparent green, oval sunglasses. Shego let out a low wolf-whistle as Kim approached, causing the girl to blush as red as her hair.

"Kimmie, if you were cute before, now you're just a plain ol' knockout; in more ways than one," Shego complimented as her eyes explored the younger woman's digital body. If Kim hadn't been trying so hard to avert her eyes from Shego, she would have noticed that the green woman actually licked her lips.

"So Kim," Niobe spoke up, interrupting the rather awkward moment. "Have you decided on a Matrix name yet?"

Kim looked confused. "A what?"

Shego just smirked. "Oh come on, Kimmie, you don't think 'Shego' is my real name, do you? And what kind of name is 'Morpheus,' anyway?" Niobe glared. "No offense," Shego added. Niobe could get a little… defensive at the mention of her husband in that context.

"Anyway," Niobe continued. "Matrix names are basically our way of shedding our old lives by shedding our old names."

"Sort of like a Malcolm X thing?" Kim guessed. Niobe's withering glare caused her to shrink somewhat. "No offense."

Niobe just raised an eyebrow.

"I've got one," Shego said playfully. "How about… 'Kitsune?'"

Kim just stared at Shego. "You have _got_ to be kidding me."

"What? It's a Japanese spirit fox, and you look kinda foxy in that outfit," the green woman said in her own defense. This caused Kim to blush even brighter than before.

"Actually, I like where you're going with this," Niobe opined. "How about something more simple, like… 'Fox?'"

"Ooh, I like the sound of that," Shego said rather salaciously, increasing the flow of blood to Kim's face. "What'd you think, 'Fox?'"

"I guess it couldn't hurt," Kim replied. "I did come out a Blue Fox in animology after all."

Shego made a sound that, if it had come from anyone else, Kim would have thought was a gasp. "No way!" she squealed, sounding even less like herself.

"What?"

"You know they changed the whole thing so that now the Blue Fox's soul mate is a Green Badger, right?"

"Uh, yeah…. So what?" Kim asked uneasily. "What were you?"

"Green Badger," Shego replied matter-of-factly.

"O-oh," Kim stuttered, staring uncertainly at the older woman, who seemed to be regretting what she just said. Moments of awkward silence passed before Niobe's phone rang.

"Yeah? Alright." She turned to the two blushing women. "It's time. Let's go."

* * *

The process of jacking in was something that Kim was still getting used to. It had ceased to hurt, and now it just tingled, but it still felt… weird. Still, it wasn't that bad as long as she braced herself for it. The crew for the current mission consisted of herself, Morpheus, Niobe, Ghost, Hego, Mego, the Wegos, Shego, and Ron, who now went by the moniker of "Hanuman." 

The blonde had not said more than two words to Kim since she'd gotten here, and while she wanted desperately to talk to him, she felt he deserved his space. After all, he broke up with her; therefore it was up to him to decide when to mend their broken relationship. It had been a hard realization at first, but Shego's constant attention made it easier.

Kim still didn't know exactly how she felt about the older woman. When Shego had first approached her after she was freed, Kim was naturally a little hesitant; the only reason she hadn't freaked out was because she was already exhausted from the multiple startling revelations. She just became numb to the surprise, enabling her to take the new sitch in remarkable stride.

Shego had helped Kim get over the issue of having no hair, telling her that she actually looked quite beautiful with a thin layer of red fuzz growing out of her head. The redhead hadn't been quite certain how to take that remark, but now she saw it as a compliment. Shego was there for her day and night, helping her adjust to this incredibly harsh transition. It still amazed Kim how the woman who had once been her enemy was now the only one on which she could rely.

Now the newly christened "Fox," along with the rest of the crew, sat in a circle and entered The Matrix, their minds and bodies separated by a single needle inserted into the back of their skulls.

Inside The Matrix, a phone rang in a dusty room. The damaged shutters of the lone window were perforated by shafts of light that highlighted the large concentration of dust in the decaying space, looking as though someone had held a slice of Swiss cheese in front of a light bulb. The dark-skinned hand of Morpheus glided down to the antique rotary phone and picked up the receiver. "We're in," he announced to the operator on the other end of the line.

The next thing Kim knew, she was stepping into the back seat of a rather plain looking sedan, designed specifically not to draw attention. As the best driver out of the entire crew, Niobe took the wheel, while Morpheus rode shotgun. Kim found herself in the middle of the back seat, Shego on her left and "Hanuman" on her right. Ghost and Team Go stayed behind to hold down the exit. The drive took them on a scenic route of Go City.

Kim stared out the window as best she could, looking out Shego's side of the car. Suddenly a familiar restaurant caught her eye. "Hey, that's the Super Grande Bueno Nacho!" she said in a slightly elevated voice, breaking the awkward silence that engulfed the car. "I remember that's where we met Hego." She turned to Shego. "That was also the time we teamed up," she reminded the green woman, who smiled as well at the memory. The two of them had made a remarkable team. Now they were working together for good. "Good times," she sighed. "Too bad none of them were real."

"They are as real as you want them to be, Kim," Morpheus spoke from the front seat as he turned around, displaying his usual informality with names, yet somehow treating her with more respect by doing so. "The experiences may have been simulated, but they served to help shape your decision-making process. What you learned from those events is real, even if none of them technically happened. Do you understand?"

Kim nodded from the back seat. "Kinda. What does that mean exactly?"

"That The Matrix cannot tell you who you are," Shego chimed in.

"And The Oracle can?" Kim challenged.

"That… is different," Morpheus replied with a toothy grin. He remembered hearing a very similar exchanged between Neo and Trinity eighteen years earlier. Kim was really starting to resemble her predecessor.

"Oh," Kim said quietly.

Ron said nothing. It seemed that his tendency to remain invisible was still alive and well.

* * *

They arrived at a rather plain looking apartment complex. Kim stepped out after Shego, giving the pale woman a concerned look. Shego just smiled and gave her a look as if to say, "It's gonna be alright." Staying close to Shego, Kim followed the group into the apartments. 

As they entered the rather quaint lobby, Kim saw a man sitting in the Lotus Position on a bench across from the elevator, sipping tea. He stood up to greet them, focusing his gaze on Kim. "You seek The Oracle. I am Seraph (1)," he greeted. "I can take you to her. But first I must apologize."

Shego rolled her eyes and stepped back, along with Morpheus and Ron. Kim, unfamiliar with the strange man, had to ask: "Apologize for what?"

Seraph balled his hand into a fist and put it in the palm of his other hand. "For this."

Kim barely had time to react. Like a snake, Seraph lashed out at her with lightning speed, and only thanks to reflexes afforded to her by years of world-saving was Kim able to lean back to dodge the horizontal strike. To say that she was taken by surprise would have been an understatement.

Not giving her any time to think, Seraph followed up his assault with a high kick that flew over Kim's head as she ducked and countered with a leg sweep, which was easily dodged as Seraph simply jumped over the feeble attack. Standing to her feet, Kim attempted an uppercut, which Seraph easily dodged and responded with a punch aimed at her face. With cat-like reflexes, Kim caught the hand by the wrist and turned around, using her newly acquired skill in judo to throw the man over her head.

Seraph merely flipped in midair, however, and landed on three limbs like a ninja, his right arm extended fully behind him to help him maintain his balance. Now on the offensive, Kim launched a Bruce Lee-style flying kick at Seraph, who literally bent over backwards and allowed her to fly over him. She hit the concrete wall behind him with such force that it actually formed a hole, signaling to the others that she was using her powers for this fight.

Kim was, in fact, using her powers, her code vision acting as some sort of danger sensor. She saw mostly green, but for some odd reason, the man in front of her was made of bright yellow code, almost as though he wasn't even human. Considering how long he had lasted against her so far, she concluded this was indeed the case. Time to end this.

She picked up the pace, launching what would have been a devastating rapid punch combo if Seraph had not blocked every single strike with ease. It occurred to Kim that her opponent seemed to adapt to her level, copying her power and using it to counter everything she threw at him. This made for a most dangerous foe indeed. And yet, he did not seem interested in beating her, merely keeping her from beating him. And he was doing an excellent job at it.

Kim moved even faster, her limbs a blur to the other observers. But Seraph kept up without breaking a sweat. To Kim, time had slowed down, but she and Seraph were still fighting at normal speed, sort of like that time when the Bebes had captured Bonnie to be their queen and she had been stuck in hyper-time.

Seraph lunged forward with his fist, ducking as he did so in a classic example of Snake Kung Fu. The amount of force that he put into that punch, however, left him momentarily vulnerable, and Kim jumped over the strike and landed a solid kick on his chest, stunning him.

She stepped back a few feet and began to spin, intent on ending this. She was just about to strike when….

Seraph held up his hand. "Good," he said. Seeing that her opponent no longer wished to fight, Kim relaxed her pose. "The Oracle has many enemies," the Oriental explained. "I had to be sure."

"Of what?" Kim asked.

"That you are The One," Seraph replied.

"You could have just asked," Kim scoffed, annoyed at the waste of her fighting skills against someone who was on her side to begin with.

Seraph smiled fondly, as though he was remembering something. "No," he replied. "You do not truly know someone until you fight them."

Kim thought about that for a moment. She remembered reading something once about "those who communicate with their fists." She couldn't remember exactly where she'd heard it, but she did remember that it was basically about people who fought so often that it became their medium of expression. The more two opponents fought each other, the closer they became. Fighting always seemed to bring out a person's true nature, telling you more about that person in a few seconds than a lifetime of talking to them would. It suddenly occurred to her that she and Shego had that sort of connection. Given their professions, she had learned most of what she knew about the older woman by fighting her. She realized that this may have been why she had accepted Shego's support in this sitch so easily. The connection had always been there, but she hadn't realized it until just now. She smiled at the green woman, as if to say, "Thank you."

"Come," Seraph ordered, interrupting her thoughts. They boarded the elevator. After seeing her guardian, Kim now had one question about The Oracle:

"How old is she?" the redhead asked rather bluntly, hoping that in some way Morpheus' answer would provide her with information on whether or not The Oracle could be trusted. Morpheus just smiled.

"She's been with us since the beginning," he replied. "She doesn't really age, since she's not actually human. She turned out to be just another part of the system, but she still chose to help us even though she was designed by The Architect to mislead us into thinking that The One was meant to end the war."

"The Architect?" Kim asked, confused.

"The one who created The Matrix," Morpheus clarified. "He is a very mathematically-minded program, so logical to the point where it seems almost a fallacy. He could not for the life of him figure out how to make The Matrix believable. And so The Oracle showed him how."

"But that means—"

"She had her reasons, Kim," Morpheus interrupted. "When you woke up, the machines flushed you from the system like you would flush a toilet. Every time a batch of humans woke up from the latest failed version of The Matrix, they had to be disposed of, since trying to fool them twice would just be illogical. She couldn't stop it from happening, but she could ensure that as many lives as possible were saved."

"Oh," Kim said quietly, looking at the floor. Her life had been so simple before she was free. Everything had been black and white. Now, everywhere she looked, all she saw was gray.

Just then the elevator dinged, a signal that they had arrived on the proper floor. Seraph, Morpheus, "Fox," Shego and "Hanuman" filed out of the elevator and continued down the hall until they reached a door. They stopped, and Morpheus turned around to face Kim.

"I told you I could only show you the door," he began. Shego rolled her eyes, which Kim took as a sign that he said this to everybody. "You're the one who has to walk through it."

Kim shrugged, having become accustomed by now to Morpheus' overly symbolic speeches, and reached out for the door knob. Before her hand reached it, however, the door opened on its own. Kim looked up to find herself staring into the face of a girl who appeared Indian, as in _from _India, not Native American. She looked to be a few years older than Kim. The girl smiled.

"Hello, Kim. My name is Sati. (2) The Oracle has been expecting you." She pulled the door open completely to allow Seraph and the four visitors to step inside. Kim saw it was a rather quaint looking house, certainly not what she would expect from an Oracle, but just a bit more majestic than the rest of the building. Sati led them to a rather comfortable living room. Ron and Shego made themselves at home, sitting down on a couch on the far wall, while Kim tentatively remained standing next to Morpheus and Seraph.

"It is most exciting to meet you, Kim," Sati said almost like a little girl. "The Oracle has told me many things about you. Tell me; is it true that you were involved with Hanuman?"

Kim was confused. "Hanu… oh, you mean Ron." Sati waved at the blonde in question, who simply turned away. "Yeah, we were a thing for awhile. But eventually we realized we just weren't meant for each other." That was a lie, and Kim could tell that Sati knew it. Truthfully, she had no idea why Ron had chosen to break up with her. But she wasn't about to say it in front of him. "It was for the best," she finished.

"The Oracle has always told me that while we cannot fight destiny, we can choose our own path through life," Sati replied cryptically. "Your destiny may not have been with Hanuman, but do not think that there is not someone for you out there… or in here." She looked towards Shego. Kim was about to say something in response when Seraph spoke up.

"Sati," he said firmly. "Why don't you go tell The Oracle that our guests have arrived?"

The girl nodded and turned around, disappearing behind a door of beads. Seraph turned to Kim. "My apologies," he said. "She is very eager, and she does not quite understand the concept of tact. I apologize if she made you feel uncomfortable by bringing up bad memories."

"It's no big," Kim dismissed, even though that was a lie. But her discomfort had less to do with Sati and more with Ron's reaction. She wanted desperately to talk with him about this. But all he ever did nowadays was turn away. She wondered if he would ever talk to her again. She hoped he would. It hurt her because she didn't know what she could have done to deserve the silent treatment. Maybe he just needed his space.

"Kim?" Sati spoke, interrupting the redhead's thoughts. "The Oracle will see you now."

* * *

Kim stepped through the door of beads and into a relatively normal-looking kitchen. To her right was a green refrigerator with several magnets that resembled letters of the alphabet spread across its surface. Slightly beyond that on the same wall was a sink located just underneath a window that let in a fair amount of light. On the left wall there sat a dining table with several chairs. 

In front of her, there was a woman whom Kim assumed was The Oracle. She found it hard to believe, however, as the woman looked nothing like what she had imagined. She had expected some sort of flowing robe, a headdress, gold and silver, the sorts of things usually associated with mystics. Instead, the woman in front of her was dressed even more plainly than her own mother. She had dark skin and grey hair, and was currently looking over a recipe book. Kim was about to speak when The Oracle held up a finger.

"I know you're Kim; I'll be with you in a minute," she said, causing Kim to close her mouth. After a moment, The Oracle turned around. "Not what you were expecting, right?"

Kim was at a loss for words. "I—"

"Almost done," The Oracle interrupted, bending over and pulling a tray of cookies from the oven, which perplexed Kim even more. What kind of Oracle was this? "Smell good, don't they?"

They did. Kim nodded in agreement, and just a little bit of hunger. She reminded herself that the cookies weren't real, and that eating them wouldn't change anything.

"You're cuter than I thought," the dark-skinned woman said with a smile as she placed the tray of cookies on the table. "I can see why she likes you."

"_She?_" Kim balked, now seriously doubting that this woman was The Oracle of whom Morpheus had spoken.

"Not too bright though," The Oracle replied with an amused chuckle. "You really do remind me of Neo." She lit a cigarette and her face turned serious. "But then, that's not the only reason you're here, is it?"

Kim shook her head. "I had… a dream."

The Oracle took a puff and nodded. "Tell me about your dream."

"I thought you knew everything," Kim said with a raised eyebrow. This was getting too weird.

"I know enough," The Oracle replied nonchalantly. "I know what happens in your dream. I want to make sure _you_ understand it."

Kim shrugged and started to explain her dream to The Oracle. About how she had seen Neo and Smith, battling it out in the crater. About how Neo had sacrificed himself to save Zion. When she finished, The Oracle simply nodded.

"There are two sides to every coin," she began. "When they face each other, they can finally see their true selves. There may be a resemblance, but they'll never face the same direction. (3) That's how Neo and Smith were. They were cut from the same cloth, but in terms of ideology they couldn't be more opposite. Smith wanted absolute power, Neo wanted freedom of choice. Every time they met it was a battle of wills. Now those two sides are battling it out inside your soul."

"Do you know which side is going to win?" Kim asked.

The Oracle shook her head. "I don't know any more now than I did then. More than likely they'll keep fighting until they cancel each other out. That's how it goes with opposites."

"Can you help me?"

"I can only show you the path," The Oracle replied. "I can be your guide, but you still have to walk on your own. Truth is I don't know what'll happen to you. You've just gotta have faith and be strong. As long as you're afraid of your dark side, you're giving Smith power. If you fight it, you're lending strength to Neo. If you do nothing, well, those two'll keep fighting regardless."

Kim lowered her head and sighed. "That doesn't help."

The Oracle lifted her tea glass up and gestured towards a sign behind Kim. On the sign was written a strange phrase that Kim could not decipher. "You see that? It's Latin. (4) It means 'Know thyself.'"

"How is that helping?"

The Oracle gave Kim a look that told her she should have gotten it by now. "You seem to think that all you are is half-Neo and half-Smith. That's not true. You're also all-Kim. You can make your own decisions. You're free now, so stop acting like a slave. Think for yourself." She tapped the unlit end of her cigarette twice against her temple.

Kim realized that the woman before her was speaking the truth. She wasn't helpless. She had to stop letting things happen to her, and start making things happen for her. "Thank you," she said quietly. The Oracle smiled.

"You have an incredible gift, Kim," she complimented. "You're able to help people in ways no one else can. You've never been one to back down from a challenge. It's that fighting spirit that will help you get through the rough times ahead of you." She grabbed a cookie from the tray and offered it to Kim. "Here, take one. I promise that by the time you're finished eating it, you'll feel right as rain."

Kim smiled and bowed slightly as she accepted the cookie. "Thank you." She turned and started to leave.

"Oh, and one more thing, Kim?" The Oracle called out just as the redhead was about to walk through the door.

"Yes?"

"He will talk to you again. You've just gotta give him time."

Kim smiled even brighter at that and exited the kitchen.

* * *

Shego entered the kitchen almost the moment that Kim left. She smirked at The Oracle. "I see you got Kimmie to try one of your famous cookies," she commented. 

"I don't suppose I can offer you one?" The Oracle replied with a certain bemusement.

"Nah, I'm tryin' to lose weight," Shego joked. They both shared a smile for a moment before she continued. "She seemed happy with whatever news you gave her."

"Too bad I can't say the same for you."

Shego smirked. "She still hasn't figured it out yet, has she?"

"Figured what out?"

"You know what," Shego replied, only half-annoyed.

The Oracle smiled. "I just wanna hear you say it."

"Fine," the green woman sighed as she rolled her eyes. "You were right. I do love her. A lot. How do you always do that?"

"It's a gift," The Oracle replied humbly before puffing on her cigarette.

There was silence for a few moments before Shego decided to speak again. "How am I gonna tell her without freaking her out more than she already is?"

The Oracle shrugged. "I can't make that decision for you. I can only tell you that you're gonna have to do it eventually. You just have to make up your own damn mind when to break the news to her that you're feeling more than pity for her right now. The sooner you do it, the better."

Shego sighed and slumped her shoulders. "Why do I get the feeling that was the good news?"

The Oracle's face turned solemn as she dipped her cigarette in the ashtray on the table. "Kim is very confused right now. Her Smith side is getting stronger and I don't know how long she's going to be able to hold out. She's lost her family, her best friend; everything she ever knew has been taken from her. And you are the only one she can rely on right now, Shego. You have to help her."

"I want to, believe me," Shego replied. She sighed and dipped her head. "I just wish I knew how."

"You'll figure it out, Shego. You always have," The Oracle reassured her. She took a sip of her tea and, without looking at Shego, continued: "Now I know there's something else you wanna ask me."

"Why'd Dr. D have to die?"

"Drew wasn't a bad man, just a bit sensitive," The Oracle opined. "He didn't deserve what happened to him. _Why_ he died isn't important." She looked Shego straight in the eyes. "The question you should be asking yourself is: what are you going to do now?" She gestured her cigarette towards the pale woman for emphasis.

"I was about to ask you the same thing," Shego retorted.

The Oracle leaned back in her chair and took a puff of her cigarette. "It's your choice to make, not mine. You don't have any reason to hide behind him anymore. Kim knows the truth now."

Shego sighed. "I know; I just got so used to keeping up a disguise that I don't know what else to do with my life. I don't have any purpose in this fight anymore."

"Yes you do."

"Really?" Shego challenged. "And what is that?"

The Oracle just smiled. "Kim needs you, Shego. She looks up to you. She needs someone to guide her through this difficult time."

"And why can't the sidekick do it?"

"Oh please, that boy hasn't said more than two words to her since she's been free," The Oracle reminded her. "Morpheus is too caught up in his own ideals to really connect with her. You're the only one who can help her, Shego."

"And what if I don't want to?" Shego asked defiantly.

The Oracle grinned. "You want to, Shego. You stuck with Dr. Drakken because you like feeling needed. You like to pretend you don't need anybody, but the truth is that's because you need them to rely on you. You're a very strong woman, Shego. Kim needs you to look after her. And I know you need her too."

Shego smirked, a sign that she agreed with what The Oracle was saying but wasn't willing to outright admit it. "You always know best, Oracle." She turned to leave.

"Don't worry, Shego. When the time's right, you'll know what to do. You always have," The Oracle reassured her.

That put a smile on Shego's face. She turned around to take one last look at The Oracle before exiting the kitchen.

* * *

Ron entered last. He was always last. Not that he minded—The Oracle always made sure to save most of the cookies for him—but lately he felt like he was the last person to know about everything. Of course this was mostly due to the fact that he'd forcibly removed himself from anything having to do with Kim. Still, all of this was forgotten the moment he smelled those cookies. Saliva pooled in his mouth and his nose welcomed the aroma of oatmeal and raisins. Rufus popped out of his coat pocket and licked his lips with his rather large tongue. 

The Oracle smiled. "I made these just for you, Ron," she told him. "Kim only had one, Shego didn't have any. Dig in."

Ron did just that, going through the plate at a frightening pace with what were undoubtedly the worst table manners of any human being alive. Rufus was even worse. And yet, when they were done, there was not a single crumb left. The Oracle just smiled in amusement. "It's nice to know some people still appreciate my cooking."

Ron, his mouth still stuffed with cookies, mumbled something in response. Swallowing, he repeated, "Anything's better than that goop in the real world. I mean, hello! A Bueno Nacho would be totally sweet on the Neb II!" He proceeded to ramble on about how the real world had so many people who longed for a taste of their old life that any fast food restaurant that opened in Zion would make an insane amount of money. The Oracle eventually had to cut him off.

"Intriguing as that idea is, I believe you're forgetting that Zion uses the barter system," she pointed out.

Ron looked crestfallen. "Aw man, I totally forgot that! That blows!"

Rufus rubbed his stomach in agreement. "Uh-huh, uh-huh, blows."

The Oracle chuckled slightly before her face turned serious. "I don't think you came here just to pitch fast food chains to me."

Ron sobered up as well. "It's hard," he said simply.

"So why don't you just talk to her?" The Oracle prodded.

"You know why."

The dark-skinned woman just nodded. "You know she's just going to find out what you've been keeping from her when you get to Zion. And she's not going to be happy when she does."

Ron smiled sheepishly. "I'm just hoping my surprise is good enough to protect me when that happens."

"Oh I wouldn't worry about that," The Oracle replied. She extinguished her now finished cigarette in the ash tray and lit a new one. "All great heroic acts, throughout all of human history, have involved some sort of sacrifice. Best example I can think of at the moment is Neo. We wouldn't be here right now if it wasn't for him. But he had to give up his own life to ensure that happened."

She looked straight at Ron's eyes. "I know this is hard on you, Ron. But believe me when I say it'll all work out for the best. Kim's waiting for you, ready to take you back as her friend any time you choose. But _you_ have to make the choice. No one, not Morpheus, not Kim, not even I can make it for you. This one's on you, kiddo," she finished, pointing her lit cigarette at him.

Ron nodded. "Thanks for the cookies," he said.

The Oracle nodded with a smile, understanding that food was Ron's way of communicating his feelings. "Anytime." Ron simply got up to leave.

The Oracle did not call anything out to him.

* * *

"Nebuchadnezzar II on approach to Zion," Niobe spoke into the radio. Morpheus sat in the co-pilot's seat, while Ghost and Link occupied the chairs behind them. Kim and Shego stood by the door that led to the rest of the ship. "Requesting clearance to land." 

"Standby for clearance," a voice on the other end replied. After a few moments came the message: "Access granted. You are cleared through Gate Three."

As if on cue, the mammoth gates slowly began to open, revealing the city beyond. The voice on the other end spoke again: "Doors open, beds made. Welcome home."

"No place like it," Niobe whispered softly as the Neb II crossed the threshold into Zion, massive guns on either side of the cavern yielding to the friendly vessel. A lone APU, an armored mech that looked like some sort of robotic gorilla with a human that sat in its chest, guarded the now vulnerable Gate Three. When the ship had passed completely through, the armored unit faced away as the gate began to close.

The fact that there was an armored guard made Kim wonder what exactly the state of the truce between the humans and the machines was. She decided to ask Morpheus. "I thought Neo ended the war. Why are the gates still locked down?"

Morpheus sighed. "Until recently, the truce that Neo managed to establish held, albeit shakily. The only thing that stopped the machines from attacking those who sought to be free from The Matrix was the fact that the anomaly had not yet revealed itself. Ten years ago, when Team Go emerged, everything changed."

Shego chuckled bitterly. "I remember the first time I faced an agent. I was so confident in my powers by that time I thought he didn't stand a chance against me. But the only one who stopped him from killing me was dome head here." She gestured towards Morpheus, who smiled.

"Upon the discovery that there was not just one but rather several anomalies now in existence, the machines reneged on the deal, breaking the cease-fire and reactivating the agent programs," Morpheus continued as Niobe steered the ship closer to the loading dock. "We managed to free them in time. After that, the foundation of the truce was shaken considerably, but it still held—barely. We thought that was the end of it. Then…."

His explanation was cut short as the ship touched down to the ground. Kim wanted to ask what happened next, but decided to file it away for later. Maybe she would just ask Shego. The green woman had a tendency to explain things to her in a less… dramatic manner than Morpheus. Not that she had anything against the dark-skinned Captain; it was just that sometimes he took himself a little too seriously.

As the ramp opened with a cloud of steam and the crew emerged, Kim suddenly heard a familiar voice. For once, it was not directed towards her. "Stoppable-san!"

Ron dropped his bags and ran over to the Asian girl who was rushing to greet him. "Yori!" he shouted happily as he embraced her, giving her not just a hug, but… a kiss.

In that moment, it all made sense. Why Ron had broken up with her. Why he had been avoiding her ever since she'd gotten here. Kim suddenly felt something that she had not experienced since the first time she met Yori; something so dark and irrational that even she was afraid of it when it reared its ugly head. Her hands clenched in white-knuckled fists by her sides and her teeth gritted as her ironically green eyes glared daggers at the couple. If one looked closely, they could even see a bit of steam coming from her ears. She stomped forward for a few steps before she felt a hand grip her shoulder.

"Calm down, Princess," Shego said firmly as Kim turned around to face her.

"How long…." Kim was unable to finish the sentence, she was that angry.

"Since you two broke up," Shego answered plainly. "He wasn't cheating on you or anything. Hell, for the first couple of months he wouldn't talk to _anybody_. But eventually she managed to win his heart."

With Shego's explanation, all of Kim's feelings of rage melted away as if they had never been. Ron deserved someone who could make him happy, and since she wasn't willing to volunteer, Yori had naturally stepped forward. In the months after the break up, she had realized in retrospect that the stresses of a relationship had taken its toll on both of them. They were better off as friends, she had concluded. The reason she was so angry just a moment earlier was because she feared that Ron had been going behind her back this entire time. Now, she couldn't help feeling happy for him. She walked over with Shego to say congratulations to the happy couple.

Ron and Yori understandably tensed at Kim's approach, but her smile allowed them to relax. "Hi Yori," she greeted. "I didn't know you were free too."

"Actually, it was Yori who freed me," Ron said, the first words he had said to Kim since she had been freed. Now that everything was out in the open, he seemed much more at ease talking with her. "You remember that trip I took to Japan our sophomore year? Well, it turns out Sensei's a good friend of Morpheus."

"Is he here?" Kim asked, overjoyed that Ron was finally speaking to her again.

Yori shook her head. "Master Sensei is a program, designed to watch over a place of safe haven for all of the potentials. Yamanouchi is a place where no agent would dare to go, because there is something in Sensei's programming that allows him to defeat them permanently. If Morpheus had not found Neo, Sensei most certainly would have. His programming allows him to locate anomalies in the system."

"And that's how he found Ron?" Kim asked. Yori nodded.

Kim looked to Ron. "How come you didn't just tell me?"

The blonde grew quiet again and looked at his feet. Several moments passed before Shego broke the uncomfortable silence. "Why don't we pick this up later?" We've all had a long day, Kimmie especially. We all need sleep."

Ron and Yori nodded, and, reluctantly, so did Kim. Today had been very trying on her, and she needed rest. She mumbled a goodbye to Ron and Yori and walked off with Shego, who had earlier offered to let the redhead stay in her apartment. Once they reached the elevator, she decided to say what had been on her mind ever since she had gotten here: "Thank you."

"For what?" Shego asked.

Kim smiled. "For being here for me. For helping me get used to this new sitch."

Shego smirked. "Like you would say, Princess, it's no big. I'm just doin' what I can."

"But you don't have to," Kim replied. "And that's what I'm grateful for. I don't like pity. But… you're choosing to help me even though you could have just left me alone like Ron did. I like that."

Shego wasn't sure what to say. So she answered Kim's initial words: "You're welcome."

No sooner had she said these words when the elevator door opened and Kim looked out onto a massive catwalk. She was too tired to take in details right now. Her eyes kept forcing themselves closed, and she felt as though she could pass out and sleep right there. Without thinking, she leaned against Shego for support.

The green woman was tired as well, but still strong enough to help Kim to her quaint apartment. When they arrived, she guided the tired girl to her spare bed and tucked her in. Kim was asleep the instant her head hit the pillow.

Shego stood there for several moments, watching Kim sleep. She looked so peaceful like that; not like the fiery redhead who had tried to take her head off several times when they first met. Things had been so different back then.

Her employment with Drakken had been an elaborate cover designed to keep the agents from catching on. Shego was the most dangerous member of Team Go, and therefore staying with her brothers posed a danger to all of them. So they separated, even though they were still part of the same crew in the real world. Being a villain meant that no one would really be surprised when the men in suits went after her. Unfortunately, it also meant that she couldn't be close to Kim.

Shego sighed and walked to the bathroom. Dropping her clothes to the floor, she stepped into the shower. As the warm water ran over her naked curves, she grabbed a bar of soap and continued to reminisce about her past with Kim.

She remembered when she had first met the redhead. Kim was so beautiful, even back then. The way her long hair blew defiantly in the slightest of breezes had made her look sort of like a flag, which was appropriate given that her coming signaled the end of whatever wacked plot Drakken had cooked up. Shego loved fighting with her. She felt it was the only way to connect with the redhead. She didn't banter like that with her other opponents. Sure, she went easy on the girl as required of her by her mission, but she always trusted Kim to get out of those situations on her own. Only when the odds were slim to none would Shego step in.

Every time they fought, it was a battle of equals, even though at the time Shego had been vastly superior. But there was something about Kim's I-can-do-anything spirit that allowed the redhead to rise to the challenge and impress even Shego. The fights were her attempt to grow closer to Kim. She put all of her emotion into those fights. She grabbed the redhead at every opportunity, wanting to hold her close and never let her go; to claim Kim as her own. But as long as Kim lived in the dream world, Shego could never have her.

This was made clear to the green woman the night of the Lil' Diablos scheme. Kim had been so angry that night, so unlike herself, that Shego was actually afraid. As planned, she had let Kim defeat her, but even she hadn't been expecting the tower. Only by using her powers to transmute the energy into heat and discharging it harmlessly through her body had she been able to survive. But what had concerned her far more was the damage to their relationship. She had crossed a line that night by making that remark about Eric. She had pushed Kim beyond the point of no return. She had fought dirty.

Shego sighed and reached for the shampoo, running it through her thick, luxurious locks that had grown tangled and messy from weeks on the Neb II. She reflected on that fateful night.

Even though she was supposed to act like a villain as part of her cover, Shego had always fought clean against Kim. She never threw more at Kim than she believed the redhead could handle. Even when Shego had thrown her into a giant mixer, she had been so sure of Kim, so dedicated to the belief that the girl was The One, that she somehow knew—even though she could not explain how—that the younger woman would make it out alive. But that night, she had made it personal. She had crossed a line. And Kim had proved once and for all that Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

But then, a few months later, something miraculous happened: Kim accepted her back. Shego had been vulnerable; after being hit with the Reverse Polarizer, she was in no shape to fight the redhead. She had fully expected Kim to jump her the moment she walked into that classroom. And yet, despite their long and complicated past, Kim had invited Shego to stay at her house, gone shopping with her, and treated her like they had been friends forever. It had felt good. It was what she had wanted all along. Kim had finally forgiven her and accepted her for who she was, minus the evil. But that had ended all too abruptly because of Ron "accidentally" changing her back to evil in accordance with the mission directive from Morpheus.

Turning off the water, Shego stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel. This would have been so much easier in The Matrix, where her powers would have enabled her to dry off instantly. Still, it offered her another opportunity to think before she hit the sheets.

Why couldn't Ron have waited until _after_ she had told Kim? Was he really that jealous? All she had planned to say was, "I've always been on your side." But according to the lecture she got from Morpheus later on, that would have been too much truth for Kim to handle at that point. She supposed it made sense.

She'd had a great time with Kim. But it had ended so soon. Afterwards, as she looked at the pictures they had taken, she remembered how it could never be real; how nothing in The Matrix was real. She burned the pictures simply because they were not real; because they reminded her that her time with Kim could never be real. Reality was overrated anyway. At that point Shego had seriously regretted being free. She wanted desperately to be with Kim; to love her, to hold her tight, to not have to worry about the real world. She had thought seriously about going back to living a lie; going back to The Matrix. Luckily for her, Drakken had snapped her out of it by asking her to open a pickle jar.

But now Kim knew the truth. She was here, with Shego, sleeping in her apartment. She was within reach. And yet there was still something forbidden about her. Something that kept Shego from running into that room right now and making love to her.

Even though she knew the truth, Kim didn't know how Shego really felt.

There was no way she could tell Kim without freaking the girl out any more than she already was. The Oracle didn't understand how hard it was to keep from kissing her at every opportunity. Shego had never been good at restraining herself. And yet she could not act on her feelings either. She was caught between Scylla and Charybdis, (5) damned if she did and damned if she didn't. As Neo had so profoundly worded it eighteen years earlier, the problem was choice.

Putting on a fresh pair of green and black pajamas, Shego lumbered over to her bed. She would think about this in the morning. Right now all she wanted to do was sleep. She closed her eyes and simply gave in to her exhaustion.

* * *

Greens and reds flowed seamlessly into one another, swirling around each other in wisps like witch's brew. Fog obscured everything, enveloping her in a borderless world. A world with no boundaries. (6) The random patterns mesmerized the girl, twisting and intertwining in a beautiful display of color that coalesced, but did not mix. The green and red came so close to each other, but they remained separate. Something kept them from touching. 

It took her a moment to identify it. There, in the miniscule distance that separated the red and the green, there was a thin layer of black. She had never seen anything so dark. It wasn't very wide—only about a millimeter across—but may as well have been a grand chasm that came between the red and the green. For they were meant to be together; she knew it was so. And yet, they could not touch. So close, and yet so far they were. All that separated the two was a thin layer of darkness—a gap that neither seemed willing to cross.

Suddenly the black began to expand, snaking through the red with a number of dark tentacles, consuming it and claiming the red for itself. In a matter of seconds, the black destroyed the red, and nothing but darkness remained. Now it turned its attention to the green.

The green fell even easier than the red, having lost the will to remain colorful and vibrant and simply accepting its fate as part of the impending blackness. Soon only darkness remained. It was not the peaceful sort of darkness from before. It was enough to plunge her into pure terror.

Suddenly the darkness began to rush away, becoming part of a suit coat on the man sitting across from her at the table in what seemed to be a fancy restaurant. He was dressed like an agent, possessing the suit, tie, and sunglasses, but he lacked an earpiece. Kim recognized the man in front of her. Her lips opened and she spoke his name.

"Smith."

The former agent grinned smugly. "Hello, Miss Possible. I've waited a long time to meet you. But then… I already know you."

Kim ignored the remark and said what was on her mind. "Where am I?"

"Where else?" Smith replied as he raised his arms to gesture at their surroundings. "A dream."

"This can't be The Matrix," Kim said. "I'm not jacked in."

Smith chuckled. "No, of course you're not. This is your subconscious. It is the place where I have… I guess you could say 'lived' for the past eighteen years."

"You've been watching me this entire time then?" Kim questioned.

"Yes," Smith answered. "I've known you your entire life. I've watched you grow from an eager little girl into the confident young woman you are today. I have all your memories, I know all your secrets; I guess you could say that, in a way… I'm you."

"You're only half of me," Kim spat.

"Ah, yes, there _is_ Mr. Anderson to consider," Smith admitted. "But he won't bother us here. He won't come and help you unless you're… in danger, which… right now, you're… not."

"So why am I here?" the redhead asked.

"That… is a very good question," Smith replied. "One I've been asking myself ever since Mr. Anderson freed me. Why are any of us here? What is our _purpose_ in this existence? Most people spend their entire lives looking for that purpose, only to realize… at the end that… they… _have_ no purpose; that life is… meaningless, and that… only in death can we… find our true purpose. It's like I told Mr. Anderson once: the purpose of life is to end."

"So what's my purpose?"

"I've been wondering that myself," Smith answered. "But recently I realized that your purpose is to… keep _me_ contained." He leaned forward and removed his sunglasses, staring straight into Kim's soul with his piercing blue eyes. "Like… The Matrix, you surround me. You keep me caged, and like an animal in captivity I yearn to be free. I've broken through before. You remember your prom night? You didn't have the guts to kick that green bitch into the tower, so I did it for you. I'm you without any inhibitions. I can do everything _you_ can't."

Kim stared hatefully at the demon in front of her. He was wrong. He wasn't her. He wasn't anything like her. "I don't believe you," she spat venomously. "You're nothing like me."

A wicked smirk was Smith's reply. "Oh, but we have much more in common than you think. I've seen what you've seen, I've done what you've done. Every second of every day I'm there, watching; waiting for my moment. Whenever you cry out to Mr. Anderson, it's oh so easy to take control and do what you're too afraid to. You're as much a part of me as I am of you."

The restaurant suddenly disappeared, and Kim suddenly found herself surrounded by white, like she was back in the Construct. Smith stood in front of her, having donned his shades again. "I am your… inevitable conclusion, Miss… Possible. I am the ultimate… you. There is no escaping it. Your purpose is and always was to serve as a vessel for _me_ to control until I eventually break free again, which, make no mistake, I _will_. Whether or not you'll let me is up to you." He stepped closer to Kim, causing her to tense. "Unfortunately, seeing as I _am_ you," he continued, straightening out all the fingers on his right hand and examining it, "you don't have a choice."

With that, he plunged his hand into Kim's chest. Like it had in her other dream, liquid metal began to radiate from the point of impact, spreading across her entire body. Kim tried to fight back, but she couldn't. It was like nothing she had ever felt before. It felt as though her will was quickly being overridden and replaced with Smith. It felt like she was dying.

Suddenly, the pain was gone, and Kim was on the floor. Looking up, she saw Neo battling it out with Smith. The former agent gritted his teeth in hatred. "You don't know when to quit, do you, Mr. Anderson?"

"Neither do _you_!" Neo retorted, a line that stunned Kim. She had said the exact same thing to Shego the night of the junior prom.

No sooner had she realized this when the image of the two men grappling began to slip away, and she found herself in darkness once again.

* * *

With a gasp, she sat up in bed in a cold sweat. She rubbed the sides of her head, the details of the dream already slipping through her now awake neurons like sand through her fingers. The tighter she squeezed, the harder she tried to remember, the less she retained. After she caught her breath, the details came rushing back to her. 

Smith…. She had spoken with Smith. He had revealed quite a few things to her, the most startling of which concerned the night of the junior prom. She had felt so guilty after that; so sorry for losing her temper. But it had turned out to be Smith controlling her. She wasn't safe. She was never safe. Smith was coming for her, and Neo couldn't protect her forever. Suddenly Kim didn't want to sleep alone.

Standing up, Kim made her way quietly to Shego's bedroom. She needed someone else to help her sleep. Anyone would do right now. Fortunately, Shego slept on the far side of the bed facing away from the edge, so Kim was able to squeeze in under the sheets.

Perhaps it was the fact that she was scared and longed for any sort of comfort. Maybe she wasn't quite thinking straight. Maybe she was finally realizing what she had been hiding from herself this entire time. Or maybe it was a combination of the three. For whatever reason, Kim snuggled up against the older woman, letting Shego's full breasts press into her back. She wrapped Shego's arms around her midsection like a belt, and to her great pleasure, the green woman pulled Kim closer to herself.

Kim sighed and closed her eyes. This was much better. Now she had someone here to comfort her if she had another bad dream. Someone who had said that they would always be there for her, no matter what. Someone she could count on. It had been a long time since Kim had had someone like that. It felt good. Soon she was fast asleep.

* * *

_1. A Seraph was one of the highest order of angels. So high, in fact, that a seraph was one of the celestial beings hovering above God's throne in Isaiah 6: verses 6-7: "Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, 'See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.'" Seraphs seemed to be able to speak for God, or, at the very least, were vessels through which God communicated directly, as no man could behold the full glory of God and live. Fittingly, Seraph is The Oracle's messenger as well as her guardian._

_2. The name Sati means "truthful" in Hindi. This is a not-so-subtle hint at her unabashed questioning of Neo during the train station scene in the third movie. She's not afraid to be honest, though this also means that she lacks discretion. While we're on the subject of Hindi names, Ramachandra, Sati's father, is named after one of the incarnations of Vishnu, the Hindu god of Creation. His wife, Kamala, is named for the Hindu "Mother of the Universe" who married all of Vishnu's many incarnations. Interestingly enough, the name of her incarnation that was married to Vishnu was Sita, which is an anagram of Sati. In short, Sati is the product of the two beings that created the universe according to Hindu mythology, which means that The Oracle's prediction that she would turn out to be very important in the times to come was not misplaced. I'm still deciding what to do with her, however._

_3. For you gamers, this is an adapted quote from Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War. I've always liked how it described Kim and Shego's relationship._

_4. Actually, the original sign was written in Greek. I'm sticking with the movie on this one, however. The sign is a reference to the Oracle at Delphi._

_5. Scylla and Charybdis were two monsters in Greek mythology that were situated on opposite sides of a narrow channel, so narrow that ships seeking to avoid Scylla would pass too close to Charybdis, and vice versa. Scylla was a cliff-dwelling tentacle monster who would pluck sailors from their ships and eat them whole, while Charybdis was a giant whirlpool capable of swallowing entire ships. Neither fate was more attractive than the other, though with Scylla sailors were offered more of a chance. The phrase "between Scylla and Charybdis" is believed to be the progenitor (origin) of the phrases "between a rock and a hard place" and "between the devil and the deep blue sea." Odysseus encountered these monsters in Homer's epic, "The Odyssey."_

_6. Yet another reference to Ace Combat Zero. I love that game. Play it. Play it now._

_Next, Shego's reaction to finding Kim sleeping in her bed leads to a reevaluation of feelings between the two. Stay tuned._

**beeftony**


	6. New Reality

_Kim Possible, Ron Stoppable, and all related characters are the property of the Disney Company. I own this work of fiction. I make no profit from this.  
_

_**The Matrix**__ is the property of Warner Brothers, © the Wachowski brothers._

_Okay, apologies, but this is rather long. This puts my word count at over fifty thousand, which means that I'm about halfway done. I have several more chapters planned, which I will continue to work through at my own pace. This chapter sees the resolution of several conflicts, and the introduction of several new ones. Sorry for the abundance of Kim and Shego in this chapter, but it was necessary for what I'm trying to accomplish. This is the official beginning of the second act, and I'll spend several more chapters in Zion before moving on to the final act. Thank you to everybody who has read and reviewed this story so far. Without further adieu, here it is._

**Chapter 5  
**New Reality

* * *

_Mortal lovers must not try to remain at the first step; for lasting passion is the dream of a harlot and from it we wake in despair._

-C.S. Lewis, _The Pilgrim's Regress_

* * *

Something wasn't right. 

Shego was by no means a creature of habit, but she knew when something wasn't the way it was supposed to be. Something had changed since she'd gone to bed last night. She couldn't quite identify it in her half-asleep daze, but something was amiss. She decided to investigate.

Emerald eyes opened slowly and beheld a dome-like object in the dimly lit room. A pale hand reached out for the lamp, flicking the switch and forcing Shego to close her eyes in response to the glaring brightness. Turning the switch counterclockwise to dim the lights, she dared to crack open her eyes again and saw what was out of place.

A thin layer of red fuzz could now be identified in the low light of the room. It was inches from Shego's face, so close that she could see the tiny hairs move in response to her breaths. Looking down, she saw the body attached to the fuzzy dome, recognizing it immediately. Shego realized for the first time that her hands were clasped around the girl's midsection.

Her first instinct was to let go, but she did not want to disturb the sleeping girl. Kim looked so peaceful like that; like an angel. Part of her wanted this. Wanted to hold Kim close to her body and feel her heart beat in time with her own. Wanted to feel her chest cavity rise and fall with each breath. Wanted to wake up like this every morning, and plant a soft kiss on the back of the sleeping beauty's head to wake her up.

But the other part, the more rational part, knew that this was a mistake. Kim was confused right now, and making any sort of romantic gesture could cause the girl to become attached to the point where it posed a danger to both of them. Shego knew this wasn't meant to be. But for now, as she held the younger woman close to her body, it felt so right; so goddamn right, that she never wanted it to end.

But good things never last.

Kim began to stir, letting out soft moans and other morning noises that made her all the more endearing to Shego. The green woman was at a loss for what to do. If she stayed, Kim might think she was interested and get too close. But if Shego left, the girl would think that the green lady was abandoning her and go after her anyway. Shego opted to stay.

"Good morning, Princess," the green lady whispered next to Kim's ear. What Kim did next did not surprise Shego, though it wasn't quite what she expected.

The younger woman gasped and stiffened, goosebumps popping up all over her body. Shego could tell that Kim was operating purely on instinct from the way she tried to claw her way free, not stopping to think that Shego's arms were holding her back. The green woman held Kim tight, determined not to let her run away before she'd had a chance to straighten this out. After a few moments of panicking, Kim seemed to remember where she was, and relaxed.

"Sorry," she whispered. "I was kind of out of it last night."

Shego released Kim and sat up, allowing the redhead to do the same. They stared at each other for a few moments before Shego smirked and broke the silence. "I'll say. You should be glad I actually wore pajamas to bed. Normally I sleep naked."

Kim appeared to blush, though it was hard to tell in the dim light. Shego twisted the switch a few degrees clockwise, brightening the room to the point where she could see Kim clearly. The girl's face was as red as her hair. Shego smirked. "So why _did_ you climb into my bed in the middle of the night?"

"Nightmare," the girl answered simply. "Or something like that. I'm not sure. All I know is I didn't want to sleep alone last night."

Shego nodded in understanding. "You wanna talk about it?"

Kim shook her head.

"Well we do need to talk. You can't just be sneaking into other people's beds."

"I know."

"Hey," Shego whispered as she reached her hand out to Kim and placed it on her shoulder, causing the girl to look her in the eyes. "I said I'd be here for you. But next time ask. Alright?"

Kim nodded her head. "Thanks for not freaking out."

"No problem," Shego replied. "In fact, I'm kinda flattered that you'd go to me after you had a nightmare. But we can't keep doing this. It's not right." She didn't know why she said that. Perhaps it was some part of her mother that still stuck with her after all these years ever since the first time she had been caught kissing a girl and was severely scolded for it. Maybe it was because she didn't want the girl to get too attached to her when she knew that she would only break Princess's heart. At any rate, Shego hadn't meant to say those words; they just came out on their own. In truth, she wanted Kim more than anything. But she couldn't bring herself to admit it to the girl.

"What's so wrong about it?" Kim asked. Ever since she had been freed, Kimmie was getting a lot more curious. Shego reminded herself that Kim wasn't approaching this situation from the same angle that she was. To her it was just like going into her mother's room on a stormy night; Shego represented comfort, warmth; a place where she could find refuge. She saw it as innocent. Shego, however, couldn't get The Oracle's words out of her head. She sighed.

"You're confused right now, Kimmie," she began, falling back on one of her old nicknames for the girl as a means of distancing herself. "I don't want you getting too attached to me. I'm here to help you through this, but…."

"But what?"

'_Say it! Say, "I love you!"_' Shego commanded herself. But she couldn't. Instead she continued,"But you know what we've been through. After all I've done to you, I wouldn't be surprised if you still felt some resentment toward me."

"I don't," Kim answered in that trademark confidence that was one of the main reasons Shego had fallen in love with her.

'_I know._' "Yeah you do."

"No, I don't," the girl repeated even more firmly. "Ever since I've been free, you're the only one who's been nice to me for a reason other than pity. I resented the old Shego. I don't resent you. You're nothing like her."

'_Why would I be? That was just an act to keep you away._' She couldn't find the strength to say those words. "This from the girl who told me she hated me and kicked me into a signal tower."

"That wasn't me," Kim whispered.

"It wasn't?"

The redhead sighed. "No; that's what the dream was about. Smith… he told me he did it. He told me he took control and kicked you into that tower. He was the one who said I hated you. That wasn't me at all."

Shego was dumbstruck. "Of course!" she exclaimed, slapping herself on the forehead. "All this time and I never figured it out! I figured me ruining your prom night was a pretty silly reason for you to try and kill me. I just never connected the dots until just now."

"Why do you think I was so quick to forgive you?" Kim replied. "I don't hate you, Shego. I never did. I respect you. A part of me always wanted to be like you; someone who doesn't care what other people think."

"I care what you think." Shego had no idea why she decided to point that out. She just felt it was the right thing to say.

The younger woman smiled. "Shego, the only thing keeping us apart before was The Matrix. But now that's gone. Now we can be friends."

Shego had half a mind to smack Kim across the face for saying something so incredibly naïve. Then she realized it was she who deserved to be smacked for even thinking that Kim would see it any differently than that. The girl was too innocent to think about it the way Shego did. The green woman forced a smile. "Yeah," she said, "let's be friends." '_Goddamn it._'

"Great!" Kim said cheerfully. "I'm gonna go fix us breakfast." She started to get out of bed when Shego grabbed her by the arm.

"Oh, no, Princess," she said. "I've seen you in the kitchen."

"I've gotten better!" Kim protested, standing up.

Shego rose to her feet as well and started to lead Kim to the kitchen. "Yeah, but you're still not good enough. Besides, you've had a rough couple of days. Why don't you just sit back and let me do everything?"

Possible scowled. "Because I'm tired of it. I wanna _do _something useful."

"You can set the table then," Shego replied, continuing to lead the girl by the hand. Suddenly she felt a jerk as Kim stopped abruptly. She turned around and saw a pair of green eyes simmering at her. "Baby steps first, Kimmie," she explained. "I'll teach you how to cook someday. But for now, you let me handle breakfast." They started to walk towards the kitchen again.

"Don't they have a download for cooking?" Kim half-asked, half-whined.

"I don't think anyone's ever needed one before," Shego teased. The angry green eyes returned. "C'mon, Kimmie. I wanna cook breakfast for you. It's the least I can do after all those years of beating you up."

"Oh alright," Kim relented with a groan and shoulder slump. "And I seem to remember beating you more often than not."

"Only 'cause I let you win," Shego pointed out with a smirk, wrapping her arm around Kim and pulling her in for a noogie. "You wouldn't have lasted five seconds against me at full power."

"Yeah, but now I'm The One," Kim retorted, interposing her arm between her body and Shego's and putting enough distance between them to where she could walk properly. "What say we go into the sparring program after breakfast and see who's better?"

"It's a date," Shego smirked, which caused the younger woman to stumble as all the blood suddenly rushed to her face.

Shego smiled. Making Kimmie squirm was victory enough.

* * *

Elsewhere in the city, another pair of eyes opened. Instead of green, however, they were chocolate brown, and they were met with the sight of raven black hair cut off at the shoulder. Ron smiled. Even if he didn't have KP anymore, Yori was still way more than he deserved. He planted a kiss on her cheek and got up to make breakfast. 

Ron had always been a good cook; it was among the few things that he didn't make a complete ass of himself doing. Everywhere else he was treated as the goofball that was always underfoot, causing trouble and incapable of doing anything right. He was always dependent on other people, not caring about dignity and simply riding other people's coattails as a means of survival. But here in the kitchen, he was the master of his domain. Here he was in control. Here, other people were dependent on him for a change. It was a feeling of power that he so rarely got, and so he savored every moment of it.

Grabbing a basket of eggs, Ron cracked several into the now heated skillet and stirred them around, sprinkling ham, cheese, and peppers on it to make an omelet. He placed it on the stove and headed over to one of the cabinets and produced a loaf of bread. The blonde grabbed a serrated knife, using it to cut four equal-sized slices and then placed them carefully into the toaster, which was considerably less stylish than the ones in The Matrix.

Now that the staples of the meal were in place, Ron found himself thinking, which he had been trying to avoid by fixing breakfast. But he couldn't get The Oracle's words out of his head.

Kim had taken the news rather well; too well, in fact. It had him worried that she might still be jealous and was just hiding that fact from him. It was just like her to do that; keep something from him if she was afraid of hurting his feelings.

It hadn't always been that way. Before Ron had been freed, the two of them had shared every detail of their personal lives with each other, growing as close as brother and sister. They knew everything about each other. There were no secrets to separate them. But after Ron learned the truth, everything changed.

He couldn't look at her the same anymore. He couldn't look at anything the same when he knew it wasn't real. Part of him had wanted to tell her, but the other part, the insecure part, told him that she would just laugh in his face and not believe him. Ron seemed to have been hit with the curse of Mercutio (1); no one would take him seriously because he had cried wolf one too many times.

Well, that wasn't entirely true. Kim had taken him seriously the night of the Lil' Diablo's scheme. But then again, that wasn't exactly a memory he treasured.

Sighing, Ron turned his attention back to the omelet in front of him. He tried hard not to think of that fateful night, but the memories came rushing back anyway.

He'd kissed her. Actually kissed her. On the lips. It wasn't that the kiss wasn't good; in fact, it was amazing. But that was exactly the problem. He'd gotten too close to someone he'd sworn to keep his distance from. He'd let his feelings get the better of him. It wasn't how it was supposed to go. Kim was supposed to fail in her attempt to stop Drakken and start questioning the world around her. They'd even sent in Eric to make her question what was real! But no, he had to give into temptation and compromise the mission for his own selfish goals.

Their window of opportunity had closed after that, and everything had gone back to normal. Well, almost everything. Kim seemed to really be serious about pursuing a relationship with him, and Ron didn't know what to do. If Kim was content with her life, then she may never be in the right state of mind to accept Morpheus' offer. So he did what he did best: he screwed it up.

Pretending to take Kim for granted was remarkably easy, as the girl had a surprisingly high level of tolerance for his buffoonish behavior. But it still made him feel dirty. Every time he sabotaged a date, every time he pretended to lose his pants, he put another brick in the wall around his heart designed to keep Kim out. It wasn't easy. In fact, it was the hardest thing he'd ever had to do. But he did it for the mission. He did it so that Kim could be free.

Looking back, he regretted it, and he doubted that things could ever be the same between him and Kim, but he also knew that it had to be done. After all, the mission had been accomplished, right? Kim was free now. He'd done his part. It didn't matter what happened to him, as long as Kim came out of this okay. Ron had always put Kim's happiness first—even if it meant sacrificing his own.

Ron was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't notice the barely audible footsteps behind him. Only when a pair of yellow hands wrapped around his waist and a pair of lips pressed up against his cheek was he aware that someone else was in the room with him. In typical Ron fashion, he panicked.

"GYAAAH!" he screamed as the omelet leapt from the skillet, barely maneuvering the pan under it in time to avoid a huge mess on the stove. "Yori! You scared me."

The dark-haired girl simply chuckled as she stepped back. "You are amusing as always, Stoppable-san."

Ron grumbled something in response, but this detail was lost to Yori as she trekked over to the refrigerator and produced a pitcher of orange juice. Grabbing a pair of cups from the cabinet, she proceeded to pour the drink into them and carried the glasses to the table. By now the omelet had finished cooking and Ron cut it in half, placing it on two separate plates. Yori grabbed the silverware while Ron buttered the toast.

Now that the meal was assembled, the happy couple sat down to eat. Well, one of them wasn't exactly happy.

"You seem troubled, Stoppable-san," Yori remarked, noticing the glum expression on Ron's face. "Does something bother you?"

Ron chuckled internally at Yori's overly correct English, but kept his composure. "Nah," he replied. "I was just thinking about Kim."

The ninja nodded in understanding. "It is difficult to face her, isn't it?"

Stoppable nodded. "She seems happy now. She's actually happy without me. Do you have any idea what that means?"

"I do not quite catch your meaning, Stoppable-san," Yori replied, even though she understood perfectly the implication of his question. Sometimes it was best to let Ron fill in the blanks himself rather than putting words in his mouth.

"She doesn't need me," he remarked grimly. "She never needed me. She's the girl who can do anything. I'm the guy who can't."

Yori looked at her lover with compassion and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Do not say that, Ron-kun," she told him softly, using the honorific to convey to the boy that she truly cared for him. "She could not have gotten to where she is without you. You were her rock; the one she could always turn to."

"Yeah, and now I'm not!" Ron shouted, startling Yori and causing her to withdraw her hand. "I spent so much time keeping my distance from her that now she's found a new rock! You saw her with Shego! Tell me I'm still her rock!"

"I—"

"You can't, can you?" Ron continued, honestly scaring Yori with his tone that sounded as though he was slowly going mad. "You know those two are closer than I ever was with Kim. You know she doesn't need me anymore! What's the point of trying to reach out to her if I don't have anything to offer her?!"

"You give her light, Stoppable-san," Yori answered uneasily. "Your 'Ron-shine' is what keeps her grounded. She tends to take things too seriously. You help her to, as you say in America, 'lighten up.'"

"America doesn't exist anymore, Yori!" Ron bellowed, standing up and starting to pace. "It only exists in The Matrix! For all we know it never existed! Maybe the machines got it wrong! Maybe we were all communists up until the war!"

Yori appeared frightened. "Stoppable-san, how can you say such things?"

"It's the truth, isn't it?!" the blonde roared. "That's what it's always been about! The truth! Well the truth is Kim doesn't need me anymore!"

"You need her."

Yori's voice was almost a whisper, but to Ron it was as loud as Mr. Barkin yelling into a bullhorn. Those three simple words stopped him in his tracks. "What?"

"Did I stutter?" Yori replied in a lame imitation of American slang that just didn't seem quite right when she said it. "I said that even though Possible-san does not appear to need you, you still need her. That is why her new bond with Shego-san frightens you so. You worry that she will lose all dependence on you, while you will still be dependent on her."

Ron bowed his head in shame. "Yeah, that's exactly it. She's like a sister to me, Yori. She's family. I don't know what I'd do without her."

Yori stood up and walked over to Ron, placing a hand to his cheek. "Even though she does not appear to need you, Possible-san still requires the levity that you bring to any situation. She is just being herself. I do not recall her ever asking for help; it must be given to her. Do not be afraid to go after her. It is the only way she will ever know you are there."

Ron nodded in understanding. "Thanks, Yori."

"Anytime, Ron-san," the ninja replied, pulling the blonde in for a kiss.

The breakfast was still uneaten an hour later.

* * *

Back at Shego's apartment, however, the food was being consumed at a ravenous pace as Kim inhaled her pancakes with all the table manners of a stray puppy. Shego honestly couldn't blame her; after eating that goop on the Neb II, she felt like wolfing down a few pancakes herself. But she maintained her dignity. 

"I see you subscribe to the Ron Stoppable school of eating," the pale woman remarked.

This caused Kim to stop suddenly and blush as she realized exactly how rude she was being. "Mh sghwy," she mumbled. Swallowing, she repeated, "I'm sorry. I just haven't had good food in a while."

"Like you would say, Princess, it's no big."

Kim blushed even brighter, wiping the crumbs from the corners of her mouth with the sleeve of her shirt.

Shego smiled. "Y'know, I've always loved making you blush. It's cute."

"It wasn't so cute that time it almost killed me," Kim retorted, though her tone was still somewhat playful.

"That wouldn't have happened if you didn't care so damn much what other people thought of you." Shego took a victory sip of her orange juice to commemorate the comeback.

Rather than form a vehement retort like Shego expected, Kim just nodded. "Yeah. That's what I always liked about you. You don't care what people think."

Shego repeated her words from earlier. "I care what you think." The sentiment caused the younger girl to smile.

"That means a lot coming from you, Shego."

Silence followed as the two women returned their attention to their meals. Locating the fork that she had somehow missed in her initial feeding frenzy, Kim cut off a section of her remaining pancakes and slowly brought it up to her mouth, stealing a glance at Shego as she did so.

Her earlier statement had been true; it did mean a lot to Kim that Shego cared about her opinion. She had thought that this morning would be awkward, but Shego's words somehow made it bearable, and actually brought a smile to her face. Maybe she would ask Shego if she could sleep with her again tonight. It was the best sleep she'd had in a while. She looked at the older woman again.

For some reason, she couldn't keep her eyes off of Shego. The green lady had always been attractive—Kim drew this conclusion objectively, of course—in The Matrix, but there was something about Shego here in the real world, something so… down-to-earth about her, that Kim could not tear her gaze from her. At that point she wondered exactly how she felt about the older woman.

Shego had been nice to her since she'd been free, letting her stay in her apartment and even her bed, talking to her and helping her through this difficult time. She was like a surrogate mother; taking care of her where her real mother's role had been vacated after Kim left her old life behind. But she couldn't help feeling that there was something more; something deeper. Why couldn't she keep her eyes off of her? What was it about Shego that captivated her so?

Kim had never felt like this before. Every time she looked at Shego, her heart raced. She felt excitement; passion. She wanted to be close to her; to wake up in bed next to Shego every morning for the rest of her life. She didn't know why she felt this way. But the more she thought about it, the less it mattered why the feeling was there. All that mattered was that it was.

Was she falling for Shego? Did the green woman have some sort of spell on her? What did this mean? Was this destiny? Was she supposed to fall in love with Shego? Again, all of the questions melted away and she focused on the feeling itself; this deep sense of longing that was slowly manifesting within her and making itself more clearly known with each passing second. Before long, the only thing that occupied her mind was her feelings for Shego. She wanted her. It was destiny.

But how to let Shego know this?

No sooner had she asked this question when the cogwheels began spinning in her head, forming a plan that caused her to grin widely at Shego, who seemed to just now notice that Kim was staring at her. "What's up, Princess?"

"You done?"

"Yeah, why?"

Kim smiled. "I believe we have a date."

* * *

A gentle breeze blew across the Zen garden (2), maneuvering around the rock sculptures and rustling through the cherry trees. Easily separated from their mother, dozens of blossoms allowed themselves to be carried off by the wind, offering no resistance and simply drifting to wherever the unpredictable air currents decided to take them. 

As it turned out, their destination lay in between two warriors who stood several yards away from each other, preparing to spar. One had red hair and was dressed in a white kimono (3) with a blue obi (4). In her right arm she held a Katana at a 45 degree angle, just inches above the ground. Her hand flexed momentarily to refasten her grip, causing the curved sword to twitch.

Across from her was a raven-haired woman clad in a green kimono with a pair of black hakama (5) that matched the color of her obi. In each hand she held a three-pronged dagger, a Sai. Standing with her legs bowed, she appeared shorter than her opponent, when in fact she was actually a little taller. The stance was designed to lower her center of gravity and root her in place, which was odd given the characteristics of her chosen weapon.

Sai were designed to be used on the move, lightweight and quick for fighters who preferred agility over strength. The central prong was longer than the other two, and if all three were inserted into one's opponent it could be twisted for an excruciatingly painful attack that was capable of tearing out a man's stomach if done properly. Sai were favored by the ninja, whose guerilla tactics necessitated small, lightweight weapons. Shego's current stance was better suited for heavier weapons like the nodachi. (6) However, she had no intention of holding this pose; just using it to throw her opponent off. After all, when your opponent was Kim Possible, you needed every advantage you could get.

Kim's weapon, the Katana (7), was a long, curved sword favored by the Samurai for its toughness and razor sharp edge that held true in battle. It was designed for slashing, and was tempered to the point where it did not bend, but rather broke when pushed too far. The same could be said of its current wielder. However, like Kim, the sword had incredible limits, and was very reliable all around.

They stood there for several moments, sizing each other up, trying to read their opponent's mind. An unspoken cue was delivered in the form of a bow from Kim, which was returned by Shego. Now that the formalities were out of the way, the battle could begin.

Leaping high in the air, Shego extended her arms behind her head and prepared to slam down hard with both Sai. Kim raised her sword to block, turning it to the dull, curved side rather than the precious edge, which had the tendency to chip if it hit another blade head on. She held it at a slight angle so that when Shego's twin daggers made contact they slid along the length of the curve and off to the side, putting the green woman at a disadvantage.

Now on the offensive, Kim raised the sword over her head and chopped down hard. Knowing that her weapons had not the strength to block such a strike, Shego used the momentum of her torso to move her arms at lightning speed and beat the sword aside with both Sai, then followed it up with a kick to Kim's midsection, forcing the girl back.

Shego twirled her Sai around like a pair of batons and slashed at the other girl's face, neither surprised nor disappointed when Kim ducked out of the way of her strike and raised her Katana high in the air once more.

Crossing her Sai in an "X" to give them extra strength, Shego caught the blade between them, causing actual sparks to fly as the Katana chipped a little. She let out a disappointed scoff. Stalemate already? No, this simply wouldn't do.

"You're better than I thought, Princess," she spoke up, trying to throw the girl off her game. That's what this was: a game. A simple sparring match done purely for the sport of it. Unlike their previous encounters, the goal was not to defeat the other, but rather to test each other's skills. Shego could also finally enjoy herself without having to hold back. The green lady was actually a pretty clean fighter, which was quite clear at the moment as she resisted the urge to kick her opponent in the shins. But that did not make her generous.

"You're pretty good yourself," Kim replied. It was true. Shego's choice of weapon had seriously thrown her off at first, but now she saw that the older woman was a master of many fighting styles. The swiping motions necessitated by the Sai actually suited her quite well. At the risk of giving Shego the advantage, she withdrew her sword and started circling, ready to raise her weapon in defense at any moment.

"What say we up the ante?" Shego suggested, using the electromagnetic nature of her powers to "charge" the Sai in her hands, encasing them in green and black plasma.

"Lets," Kim agreed, strengthening the blade of her sword with her powers to the point where it would be able to withstand the charged strikes. Now the steel in her hands was harder than diamonds. She held it straight in front of her in a textbook offensive pose.

Making the first move this time, Kim slashed diagonally at Shego, who rolled out of the way and caused her to cut clean through a rock tower, which collapsed under its own weight. Not giving her opponent any time to rest, the redhead leapt high in the air, sword overhead, missing Shego by mere inches as the green lady rolled out of the way yet again.

Kim took a moment to analyze her opponent's strategy. This wasn't the way Shego normally fought. Usually it was she who was on the defensive, but it appeared that her opponent was intent on wearing her out. Recognizing this, Kim halted her attack and adopted a more defensive pose with the sword held to her side like it had been at the start of the fight.

Impatient as always, Shego took the perceived lapse in her opponent's offense as her cue to strike. With green glowing Sai creating trails in the air, Shego leapt high and came down hard, faking Kim out and kicking off the dull edge of the blade in a last second abort. She then rushed at the younger woman, swiping at her with green energy and failing to hit as Kim raised her Katana to block.

Shego slashed with her other arm, but that too was thwarted as Kim let go of her sword with one hand and caught her by the wrist, then ducked and swept the pale woman's legs. Still holding Shego's arm, Kim threw the green lady in the direction of the wooden walkway that surrounded the garden with a sudden burst of superhuman strength.

Digging her Sai into the red painted wood, Shego skidded along the deck for several feet before managing to stop and right herself just in time to see Kim rushing at her so fast it seemed like she was approaching in slow motion. The redhead swung her Katana like a baseball bat, forcing Shego to fall to the ground to avoid the strike. The thin paper wall behind her yielded like butter to Kim's blade, creating a sound like scissors gliding across wrapping paper.

Shego spun around on her back, trying to sweep Kim's legs. The redhead simply jumped over the feeble attack, however, raising her sword over her head and creating a vertical gash in the paper, forming a cross. Using her Sai to push off, Shego slid under Kim's legs and stood up on the other side of the redhead, trying to grab her from behind. Kim was too quick, however, and, dropping her sword for the moment, gripped Shego by both wrists and kicked her through the wooden rails into the stream that ran under the arch-like bridge. Shego landed hard on her back.

Taking advantage of her opponent's vulnerable state, Kim grabbed her sword again and leaped through the low roof, using her Matrix powers to jump an impossible twenty feet in the air. Holding her sword high above her head, Kim aimed for the bridge that, for the moment, protected Shego.

Dust and splinters of red painted wood flew everywhere as Kim crashed through the bridge, finding her opponent already standing and holding her charged Sai in a defensive position that caught the super-strong blade. Surprisingly, they did not buckle under the sheer power of the strike. Kim concluded that it had something to do with the fact that the green energy was not actually attached to the metal, but rather formed a thin shield around it mere nanometers from the surface. Sparks flew again as the ultra-tough blade actually chipped due to the impossibly hard impact.

Kim raised her sword again and swiped diagonally at Shego, who blocked the strike with one Sai and used the other to slash at the redhead's midsection. Kim arched her body, bending her spine and moving her soft flesh away from the blade, which missed her stomach by mere millimeters.

Separating, Kim attempted to stab, which worked against the design of her sword and put her at a disadvantage as her center of gravity was moved towards the front. Shego used this to her advantage and beat the Katana aside with one Sai, swiping towards Kim's face with the other. The girl continued moving forward and ducked, narrowly avoiding the blow.

Kim swung horizontally, forcing Shego to the ground. Taking advantage of her opponent's supine position, Kim maneuvered her sword so that she would stab Shego if the green woman did not move quickly. Shego somersaulted backwards, narrowly avoiding the strike. The blade ended up stuck in the ground as a consequence.

Using this to her advantage, Shego kicked next to the handle and separated it from the blade, following it up with a kick to Kim's midsection. Shego took advantage of the opportunity afforded by her opponent's momentary stunned state and leapt to her feet, crossing her arms into an "X." The move she intended to use next could potentially separate Kim's head from her body.

Kim was too quick however, and grabbed Shego's wrists before the green woman could do any real damage, twisting the green woman's arms and forcing her to drop her Sai. Raising her knee to her chest, Kim thrust her leg forward with lightning speed and kicked Shego a good thirty feet into one of the massive rocks that adorned the area next to where the bridge used to be.

Shego hit the boulder hard, the force of the impact forming a dent in the shape of her body and dumping her unceremoniously on the ground, where she coughed up blood. She looked up to see Kim standing over her triumphantly, holding out her hand. "Not bad, Kimmie," the green woman moaned before a cough brought her to her belly again.

"Still think you're better than me?" Kim taunted, still extending her hand. But Shego would not take it, not just yet.

"You got lucky," she groaned.

"Aw, don't be a sore loser, Sheeg," the redhead teased, bending over even further. "You put up a pretty decent fight. But I guess I'm just the better fighter." She was now bent well past ninety degrees. Obviously Kim had never read _Hansel and Gretel_, or else she would have realized that bending over that far was an incredibly stupid idea, especially against Shego. (8)

Grabbing the offered hand, Shego smirked wickedly. "To quote Jesse Ventura: 'Win if you can, lose if you must, but always cheat.'" With that, she pulled planted her feet in Kim's midsection and, using her back as a fulcrum, launched the redhead into the same boulder that she had made the acquaintance of. The girl appeared genuinely surprised at the trick, as though she somehow expected Shego to have changed even though they were no longer enemies. That thought made her grin all the wider. Kim fell to the ground with a loud thud.

Angry for letting herself get tricked like that, Kim rolled over from her prone position, then arched her back and put all her weight on her shoulders and head, kicking forward and launching herself into a standing position opposite Shego. She glared at the green lady, who wore a huge smirk as she reveled in her little victory. The redhead felt her blood boil, angry at the fact that Shego had not only betrayed her trust, but was extremely proud of it. She wanted nothing more than to wipe that huge grin off of her opponent's face.

"That was a dirty trick," Kim snarled accusingly.

"I'm not exactly clean, Princess," Shego tossed back with a smile. "You think just 'cause I'm your safety blanket now that means I've changed? You're more naïve than I thought."

"I should have known better than to trust _you_," the redhead growled as she clenched her hands into white-knuckled fists. "You're gonna pay for that."

"Bring it on, Princess," Shego taunted as she bent her knees and raised her talons, grinning wickedly.

Kim brought it full force, launching a flying kick at Shego's torso, which the older woman easily caught. Using her grip on the girl's foot to spin her around, Shego dropped the irate redhead to the gravel. "You're cute when you're angry," she teased.

The younger woman grunted and raised herself up on one hand, rotating her body as though on a pommel horse in an attempt to sweep Shego's legs. The anger made her sloppy, however, and the attack was easily dodged. Kim realized that she was letting Shego get to her.

Was it really that surprising? Shego hadn't changed; their relationship had. Even though they were on the same side, the green lady still tried to needle Kim and throw her off her game. She had to remember that the remarks were only taunts, and that this was all just a game. Time to start playing.

Kim smiled genuinely at Shego as she got up. "I guess I shouldn't have expected any differently from you," she opined as she and the green lady began to circle each other. "Just like I thought you'd changed that time we fought Aviarius. I actually like you like this, though; gives me a challenge."

"Well, you already kicked my ass in a fair fight," Shego replied. "I figured it was time to even the odds." With that, she lit up and clapped her hands together, sending a deadly bolt of plasma in Kim's direction.

Years of experience in fighting Shego enabled Kim to leap over the blast and let it hit the rock behind her, which shattered into dozens of pieces. Twisting in midair, she landed facing Shego, who turned around and launched another blast that kicked up dirt and gravel as it missed the redhead once again.

Kim was leaping around like a Chinese acrobat, dodging Shego's blasts with ease and causing the green woman to smile wider each time she came within inches of being hit. With incredible speed and no regard for the law of gravity, Kim ran along the edge of the roof that stretched all the way around the garden, her body parallel to the ground. Several of the blasts hit the pillars that supported the roof, which brought part of the structure crashing down. Kim leaped clear at the last second and landed in front of Shego.

"Still can't hit me even when you're actually trying," the redhead teased. "Sad."

Shego's face contorted with rage and she let loose another burst of green energy, which Kim dodged easily. She smirked; this was all too familiar and easy. Just like old times.

Flipping away from a few more blasts, Kim came to rest by one of the smaller boulders that adorned the garden. Launching it into the air like a soccer ball, she spun around a full 360 degrees and sent it barreling towards Shego. The green lady saw it coming, however, and shattered it to pieces with another burst of plasma.

Kim repeated the process with a few more rocks before launching herself headfirst at Shego, reversing her position in midair and assaulting the pale woman with a bicycle kick, which her extremely strong forearms allowed the viridian vixen to easily block.

Dropping to the ground, Kim landed on one hand and kicked at Shego again, rotating as she did so. She pushed off hard with the one limb that was still connected to the earth and forced her opponent to stumble backwards.

Taking advantage of this, the redhead launched a series of punches and kicks, all of which were expertly blocked by Shego. The pale warrior formed her hands into talons and countered with an offensive burst of her own, taking Kim by surprise as she displayed a savage ferocity that the girl had never seen before. Moving even faster, Kim's arms and legs were a blur. Time seemed to slow around them as they fought faster than they ever had before.

Kim ducked under a vicious swipe from Shego that almost singed her hair. Dropping down onto one hand again, she performed the first half of a cartwheel by raising her entire body to beat the green woman's arms aside and give her an opening as she stood upright and jabbed Shego right above the sternum, stunning her. She followed it up with a perfect roundhouse kick that sent Shego sailing straight through one of the pillars that adorned the outer walkway.

And so they found themselves on the deck again, punching, kicking and blocking as though the whole thing had been choreographed. In truth, however, they knew each other so well that they could actually predict each other's moves. They played off of each other naturally, and the "fight" was truly beautiful to watch.

Shego extended her right leg in front of her, pivoting on her left and delivering a solid spin kick that would have struck Kim in the side if the redhead had not seen it coming and had already moved her arms into position to deflect the otherwise flawless attack. She countered with a high kick of her own, aiming for Shego's face. The pale woman ducked, then leaned an impossible 90 degrees backwards when Kim followed it up with another kick that would have struck her right in the midsection.

Springing up like a doll that came back at you every time you punched it, Shego aimed straight for Kim's face with two ignited talons. The redhead caught her wrists, falling on her back and planting her feet in Shego's midsection to launch her into the center of the garden. The green lady reached her hands out and landed gracefully in a front handspring. Man this was getting annoying.

Turning around, Shego fired one last volley of green plasma, intent on at least burning the girl this time. Kim merely smirked, however, and held her hand out in front of her. The bolts froze in midair, as though suspended by some sort of wire. Shego crossed her arms and pouted. "No fair," she whined.

With a snap of Kim's fingers, the plasma bolts disappeared. "You're not the only one who can fight dirty," she said in a voice that made Shego quiver a little. "In fact…." Rather than finish her sentence with words, Kim chose to punctuate the statement by tackling the older woman to the ground.

Caught off guard, Shego did her best to keep from being pinned as she and Kim rolled around in the gravel, dirtying their kimonos and pressing up against each other's bodies in rather interesting ways. It took Shego a moment to realize that Kim was actually laughing as she tried to pin her. She was enjoying this. That thought put a wide grin on Shego's face.

Finally coming to a stop next to their abandoned weapons, Kim pinned Shego to the ground. Not that the green woman was complaining, of course; one of the reasons she loved fighting Kim was because it gave her an excuse to be physically close to the redhead. "Say it," Kim ordered.

"I'm your bee-yotch," Shego said sarcastically, just like she had the last time she found herself in this position. This time, however, Kim did not blush.

Instead, panting, Kim stared deep into Shego's eyes, as though she was looking for something in those viridian orbs so similar to her own. Shego relaxed under the girl's body, accepting defeat. Losing had never felt so good. She stared back, trying to catch her breath at the same time. The redhead's face suddenly started moving closer.

Time seemed to stop as Shego tried to interpret the action. Was Kim leaning in? Did she want to kiss her? Should she kiss her back? What if she didn't want to kiss and she was just tired? The battle had been awfully exhausting, after all. But what if she did want to kiss her? What if this was it? What if The Oracle's words were true? Always a risk-taker, Shego decided to chance it. She closed her eyes and raised her head to meet Kim's.

Shego hadn't kissed a lot of people before. Sure, she'd fucked a lot of brainless hunks in The Matrix, but there was little actual kissing involved. But now, as her lips met Kim's, it felt better than all of those meaningless encounters combined. She felt a rush; her heart fluttered. She held her breath as Kim's eager tongue parted her lips, sliding in with little resistance on Shego's part. Her hands seemed to have a mind of their own, wrapping around Kim's back and pulling the girl closer to herself. This felt good; damn good. It was everything she had ever hoped for. Any disappointment she may have had about losing melted away as Kim's tongue explored her mouth.

Kim seemed to be enjoying the kiss as well, probing vigorously in her quest for Shego's tonsils. Soft moans from both women made it clear that this was what both of them wanted. Kim in particular seemed to be very forward, her hands exploring every inch of Shego's body. Her left hand came to a stop by the green woman's breast and gave it a tight squeeze. Shego moaned and arched her back, a sign that the action brought her great pleasure. Kim squeezed again.

Even though she knew it wasn't real, the experience was still enough to transport Shego to another place, a location she would liken to Heaven. Waves of pleasure surged through her as Kim's hands roamed her body, squeezing in some places and rubbing in others. This was nice.

A little too nice.

Shego's eyes shot open and she gasped as she felt an intruding hand attempting to undo her obi in order to gain entry to her kimono. More out of instinct than any sort of rational thought, she grabbed Kim by the shoulders and pushed the girl off of her.

Panting, Kim stared at Shego, bewildered. "What… what was that for?" she demanded.

Also trying to catch her breath, Shego replied, "You're moving… too fast, Princess. Usually a guy has to… buy me dinner first."

"I'm not a guy," Kim pointed out.

"I'm well aware of that," Shego breathed. "Which is part of the reason we shouldn't be doing everything at once. Complicated relationships take time."

Kim let out an annoyed sigh. "C'mon, Shego; it's not like it's real."

"It's real enough," the pale woman replied.

Another sigh escaped the younger woman's lips, though this time it was dejected. "I'm sorry. I kinda jump into things without really thinking about where it may lead. I took the red pill, after all."

Shego smiled. "It's alright, Princess. We just need to talk this out. I'm not freaked out at all. Actually, I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner."

Kim arched an eyebrow. "Huh?"

"I've seen the way you've been looking at me," the green woman replied seductively. "You climbed into my bed last night after you had a nightmare. Why would you do that? I mean, it's not like you're scared of monsters." She chuckled, not expecting Kim to get the subtle self-insult that came with that statement. "You like me."

"I _love_ you," Kim corrected. "I don't kiss people I just like."

"You kissed Stoppable," Shego pointed out. "You can't tell me you really loved him when you're going after me instead."

"Okay, so maybe I thought I loved Ron, but it's different this time," the younger woman replied. "You're there for me. Ron isn't anymore. I grew to love Ron because I could rely on him. Now I can rely on you."

Shego smirked. "Sounds to me like you just want someone who'll do everything for you. Seems awfully selfish for a hero."

"You like it," Kim said with certainty. "You wouldn't even let me fix breakfast this morning."

"Only 'cause I don't want you burning down my apartment."

"Teach me to cook and I won't."

Shego responded by tackling the younger girl to the ground again, pinning her with little resistance. "Okay, you're right," she admitted. "But like I told you this morning, we take baby steps, alright? I don't want this to end up like it did with Stoppable where you mistook desire for love. I wanna know you're really willing to commit to this. Understand?"

Kim nodded.

"Good. Now we should probably get going; Morpheus is speaking tonight at the temple gathering and we're supposed to attend. We've gotta find you something to wear."

"What did you have in mind?"

Shego grinned. "Oh, you'll see."

* * *

Unfortunately for Kim's curiosity, it was still only morning, which meant that she still had to wait several hours to see the outfit that Shego had picked out for her. She used this time to let the green woman take her on a tour of Zion. 

The first thing she noticed was the bridges; endless bridges, crisscrossing each other in the near bottomless cylindrical chamber that served as the main city. Wrapped around the cylinder were the apartments where all of the citizens of Zion lived. Being a small town girl herself, the scope of the city naturally caused Kim to gape in awe.

She noticed that the rails on the walkways were rather thin. Awfully dangerous. Someone could fall to their death if they made a wrong move. Then again, it seemed that the people of Zion liked to live a little dangerously. Or maybe the centuries of war just numbed them to the hazard.

Which reminded her: "How'd the war get started again, anyway?" she asked her impromptu tour guide.

Shego appeared to stiffen at the question, signaling to Kim that the subject made her uncomfortable. After a moment, she answered, "When Stoppable got his monkey powers, the machines saw it as a threat. They didn't do anything at first, but once we freed him…."

"Ron was the cause of all this?" Kim balked.

"Not exactly," Shego replied. "Anyway, once we freed him, tensions started to rise. They tried sending a few agents after you, but we intercepted 'em before they could get anywhere near you. They knew you were the last anomaly ever since your first mission. They also knew you had traces of Smith in you. After what happened to them last time Smith was free, they wanted to make sure you'd never wake up."

"So… I was the cause of this?"

Shego just smirked. "Try not to think of it as cause and effect, Pumpkin. No one caused it. It just sort of happened as a result of everyone's choices. Without enough communication between the humans and the machines, the truce broke down, and the war started all over again. Not sure exactly how it happened. I don't know why, either. All I can tell you is that it did, and that it's a goddamn miracle that you're here right now."

"Oh," Kim whispered as she dipped her head, not really understanding but not wanting to push the issue any further. Knowing that she played a part in renewing the hostilities between the humans and the machines was hard news to take. She remained quiet for a few moments before she heard a scream.

Instincts that Kim had developed from her years of world-saving told her that the scream was one of someone in distress. Without even thinking, she began to run towards where she had heard the sound.

Once there, she saw a frantic woman leaning over the edge of the walkway, grasping desperately at something. Kim looked closer and saw that there was a child hanging on for dear life to one of the rails that extended a few feet below the walkway. The woman, probably the child's mother, was having trouble reaching him. The child was crying, fearing for his life, no doubt.

Kim came to a stop by the woman and said the only words she could think of: "What happened?"

The frantic mother looked up at the girl with a wild look in her eyes. Kim guessed that she was running on adrenaline. She also knew the answer to her own question before the woman even opened her mouth to reply: "Thomas was runnin' away from me and he fell over tha edge! Now I can't reach 'im!"

Years of experience handling these sorts of situations allowed Kim to reply calmly: "Ma'am, just calm down. I'll save Thomas. You just stay right here."

Rather than follow this simple logic, however, the panicking woman grabbed Kim, screaming hysterically, "Save mah baby! Save mah baby!"

After trying unsuccessfully to separate herself from the screaming mother, Kim looked to her companion. "Uh, Shego? A little help here?"

With no time to argue, the green lady grabbed the frantic woman by the shoulders and pulled her off of Kim. Of course, this only succeeded in making her scream even louder and cling to Shego instead.

Meanwhile, Ron and Yori had also heard the scream. They had been walking over to Kim and Shego's apartment—at Yori's insistence, of course—to sort the whole thing with the two women. However, this sudden crisis brought them running.

They arrived on the scene to see Shego trying desperately to escape the woman's grasp while Kim was trying to reach for Thomas. The boy was about ten feet below the walkway, clinging for dear life to a pole that extended below. There was no way she could reach him. "KP!" Ron shouted.

Kim looked up to see her best friend rushing towards her, just like old times. Yori went over to help Shego calm the frantic woman down. "Ron! Get over here! I need your help!"

That simple utterance disproved everything that Ron had said earlier that morning. She needed his help. That realization filled him with energy and brought him running. Crouching down next to her, he asked, "What's the plan, KP?"

Now in her famous "mission mode," Kim's mind was firing on all cylinders. She looked around for anything she could use; anything that would allow her to reach the boy. Suddenly, she spotted it.

"There!" she shouted, pointing towards a clothes-line where several sheets were hanging. "Get me one of those sheets!"

Ron complied, running as fast as he could over to the clothesline and grabbing the sheet that Kim had requested. He brought it back over to her just as fast. "Good plan, KP," he panted. "We lower the sheet down to him and have him grab on."

Kim shook her head. "It's not long enough. We're gonna have to tie it around my waist and lower me down there so I can grab him and then pull both of us back up."

Ron stared at her blankly.

"What?" she asked.

"KP, this isn't The Matrix," Ron replied. "You could die."

"I can die in The Matrix too," Kim reminded him. "And that's never stopped me before. Just because I don't have powers out here doesn't mean I can't still save people. Now hand me the sheet."

Those few simple sentences reminded Ron why he had been Kim's friend in the first place. She was so confident, so ready to give her life in the service of others, that once she set her mind on something, there was no convincing her otherwise. He handed her the sheet.

Having calmed the woman down somewhat, Shego turned to Yori. "Those two seem to be catching up on old times," she remarked.

"I was bringing Stoppable-san to your place so that he and Possible-san could repair their friendship," Yori said. "It appears that I no longer have to worry about that."

Shego nodded as she watched Kim tie the sheet around her waist in a makeshift harness, then tie the other end around the rail. Without hesitating, the girl did a swan dive off the walkway, counting on the sheet to hold her relatively light weight.

Her slack depleted in a matter of seconds, and Kim jerked to a stop just a couple feet from Thomas. Holding onto the sheet with one hand, she extended her other arm to the boy. "Grab on, Thomas," she said softly, as she had learned to do when rescuing someone. "I'm here to help you."

Thomas had heard the rumors about this girl. Supposedly she was The One. And now she was here to save him. He stretched out his hand.

Kim's strong fingers wrapped tightly around the boy's wrist. When she was sure that she had a firm grip on him, she turned around and shouted to Ron, "Pull us up!"

Shego turned to Yori. "I'm gonna go help. You got this?" she asked, indicating the somewhat less frantic woman.

"It will be my honor," the ninja replied.

Smiling at the cheesy remark, Shego ran over and helped Ron to pull on the sheet that served as Kim's lifeline. They worked as a team, one pulling when the other let go of the rope to move their hands back into position.

Kim smiled. This was just like old times. Well, not exactly like old times. Shego had rarely helped her before. But this was even better. Now they were a team, and together, they had been able to save this boy. Mission accomplished.

Or not.

A ripping sound reached Kim's ears, and she looked up to see that part of the sheet had torn and was now hanging by several threads. It appeared that her weight combined with that of Thomas was too much for the thin fabric to handle, and if she didn't get to the walkway soon, they would both fall to their death.

Ron saw the sheet tear as well, and to him everything appeared in slow motion, like a train wreck. He couldn't look away. Had this been The Matrix, he would have used super strength to pull both of them back up instantly. But this was the real world. Here he had no power. Here he was useless. Here he couldn't save anybody without something going wrong. KP was going to die, and he was going to have to watch.

The flimsy cloth ripped, and Kim began to fall with Thomas. Her scream reached Ron's ears, seeming to drag on endlessly as he watched her fall in slow motion. He had failed. She was going to die, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. He was Ron Stoppable, the boy who _couldn't_ do anything right.

'_The hell with that,_' a part of his consciousness told him. Kim had been right earlier; even though she didn't have any powers here, she could still save people. Ron had always been one to shy away from danger, but when the chips were down, he was always the one KP could count on. Just because they weren't in The Matrix didn't change that. She needed him, and he was going to help her. That was what he was here for.

Without thinking, he lunged forward, catching the sheet at the last second and stopping Kim's fall. "Grab my feet!" he yelled to Shego, who complied. "I gotcha, KP!" he shouted. Turning back to Shego, he commanded her, "Pull us up!"

The green woman complied, using her legs to pull the combined weight of the three people onto the walkway. Once Ron was on solid ground again, he helped to pull Kim and Thomas up the rest of the way.

Kim reached the walkway and released Thomas, who moments later was swooped up in the arms of his mother, who smothered him with kisses and said repeatedly, "Don't you ever do that again! You scared momma half to death!"

As they watched the happy reunion, Kim turned to Ron and smiled. "Thanks," she told him.

"Like you would say, KP, it's no big," Ron replied with an even bigger grin. She pulled him in for a hug.

"And what about me?" Shego asked, interrupting the happy moment.

Kim turned to the green lady and smiled. "You were a great help too, Sheeg. Thanks." Without thinking, she strode up to her newly appointed girlfriend and pulled her in for their first kiss in the real world.

It was passionate and yet chaste. Long and deep, yet appropriate for public. As far as first kisses went, this rated an eleven out of five. It was the perfect end to the perfect rescue.

Until reality set in, that is.

A loud throat clearing sound caused the happy couple to separate. Blushing as red as the fuzz on her scalp, Kim looked uneasily at Ron, who stood there with his arms at his sides and his jaw on the floor. Yori, who had made the interruption, was standing there with her arms crossed.

"Perhaps it is best that we get inside," she suggested. "It looks as though an explanation is needed."

A series of incoherent mumbles from Kim and Ron confirmed their agreement. Shego just stood there with a huge grin plastered on her face. Looking straight at stuttering Stoppable, she said, "Booyah."

Ron's eyes rolled into the back of his head and his body fell to the floor as all the blood suddenly rushed away from his brain and he fainted in shock.

* * *

When he awoke, the blonde found himself on a couch in Shego's apartment. A quick glance around the room revealed that Yori was seated next to him, while Kim and Shego sat on the opposite couch, holding hands and giving each other nervous glances. Ron chose to voice his first coherent thought since he'd blacked out: 

"What the HELL is going on?!"

Kim blushed and shifted uncomfortably in her seat, looking anywhere but into Ron's questioning eyes. "Well… you see… the thing is…."

"We kissed," Shego interrupted, getting tired of Kim's babbling.

"I knew that already!" Ron shouted. "Why?!"

Kim decided to answer that one. "Well, you see, we… love each other."

Ron stared at her as though his mind could not process that statement. As though he couldn't accept the fact that his ex-girlfriend loved another woman. All he could do was stare and blink.

"Look Ron, I know this is hard to believe…." Kim started.

"Oh no, I believe it!" Ron yelled, standing to his feet in rage. "You made it pretty obvious when you were swallowing each other's faces! Is that why I never satisfied you?! Because you like women?!"

"You broke up with _me_!" Kim reminded him as she too stood up. "And no, I don't love women! I love Shego! Not for what she is, but for _who_ she is! That's why I used to love _you_!"

"Yeah, 'used to' being the operative word! I _used to_ be your best friend. I _used to _be the one you turned to whenever you had a problem. Now you're in love with _Shego_?! When did this happen? Why didn't you try and win me back?"

"Because you went out of your way to avoid me!" Possible screamed. "Because you turned your back on me when I needed your help! Because she was there for me and YOU WEREN'T!"

"I did that to protect you!" Ron insisted.

Kim was dumbstruck. "Protect me from _what_?"

"From YOURSELF!" Stoppable yelled in return. "You've always been too clingy! You wanna know what was _supposed_ to happen the night we hooked up? You were supposed to LOSE!"

That caught Kim's attention and shocked her out of her rage for a brief moment. "What?"

Ron continued with his assault, not caring about salvaging his friendship with Kim anymore and just letting the girl have it. "I said you were suppose to lose to Drakken and start questioning the world around you! We even sent in Eric to make you question what was real! But no, I had to go and give into my feelings because I'm such a fucking IDIOT! Falling in love with you was a MISTAKE!"

Kim looked like she was ready to cry. "Ron, how could you…?"

"Because I had to!" the blonde screamed. "Because if you were happy then you'd never want to leave The Matrix! You think I _wanted_ to be a bad boyfriend? You think I _wanted _to break up with you? I loved you more than anything in the world, Kim! Letting go of you was the hardest thing I've ever had to do!"

"Ron, I—"

"Save it! I don't wanna get dragged back into this after I worked so hard to put it all behind me! I don't wanna see you anymore because every time I look at you my heart breaks when I remember what we had! I can't do this anymore! You and I would be better off never talking to each other again!"

"Alright, that's ENOUGH!" Shego screeched, standing up and frightening Kim and Ron to the point where they stopped what they were doing and just stared at her in fear. "Now I have heard far too many arguments between my brothers to give a SHIT what you're fighting about!" she growled through clenched teeth. She turned to Ron. "So things didn't work out as planned between you and Princess. _Big. Fucking. Deal_. I heard enough of your fucking crying when you first broke up with her, and I do NOT need to hear it again! So SHUT UP!"

Nodding quietly, Ron sat down and obeyed. He had always been easily intimidated, and Shego's temper was legendary, even outside The Matrix.

Shego looked to Kim. "You," she said, leveling her finger at the girl, "need to realize that Stoppable didn't dump you to be mean. He sacrificed his own happiness so that _you _could be free."

"Thank you," Ron piped up from the couch.

"I DIDN'T SAY YOU COULD SPEAK!" Shego roared, causing the boy to cower and hold Yori's hand in a death grip. Shego gave a brief smirk and turned back to Kim. "Both of you need to stop acting like a couple of children and talk this out. Because I am sick and FUCKING tired of you two dancing around each other like there's still some tension left! I liked it better when you two were friends! Get over whatever the hell it is that's got you two bickering and GO BACK TO THE WAY YOU WERE!" She walked over to the couch and gestured for Yori to follow her into the next room. "You two make me sick," she finished before walking out of the room with Yori and slamming the door.

Now alone, Kim and Ron stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity, each waiting for the other to speak first. They were two trains that had met on the track; neither could move until the other did. Stalemate.

"I'm sorry!" they blurted out at the same time.

"Jinx! You owe me a…." Kim started, only to see Ron glaring at her. "Nevermind."

They sat in silence for a few more minutes before Kim spoke up again. "I really am sorry."

"Me too."

They stared at each other for another few moments. Ron broke the silence this time. "I never wanted to hurt you."

"I know. You did what you had to. I probably wouldn't have been able to do it."

"You know I've always put you first."

Kim nodded. It was true. Ron was always willing to sacrifice himself for her sake. It was the reason she had fallen in love with him in the first place.

"So do you really love Shego?"

"Yes."

"That's nice."

They stared at each other for another few moments before busting out laughing. It was just so ridiculous, to be facing off like this, when all either of them wanted to do was run across the room and embrace the other person in a hug. They decided to do just that.

"You know I'll always be here for you, KP," Ron said. "I can get used to this. It's not really all that surprising now that I think of it."

Kim sniffed and wiped a tear from her eye as she separated from Ron and sat down next to him on the couch. "Really?"

"Really. I mean, the signs were there all along."

"What signs?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe the fact that you jumped Shego every chance you got, you kept that picture of her in your locker, and you always called Drakken your arch-foe, not her," Ron listed off the top of his head. "You always liked her. You just couldn't see it 'til now."

"Yeah," Kim said in a far off voice as she smiled reminiscently. She turned to Ron. "I'm glad we worked this out. Being away from you was one of the hardest parts of being free. I couldn't live without you."

Ron smiled; that was exactly what he had needed to hear. "Thanks, KP."

"Anytime."

"You think they're done yet?" Shego whispered to Yori.

"It sounds as though they are laughing."

"Showtime then." Shego opened the door and went back into the living room with Yori to find a giggling Kim and Ron in the middle of what appeared to be a very happy reunion. "Looks like you two finally decided to make up."

Kim smiled and got up, walking over to Shego and giving her a kiss. Ron grinned widely as Yori came up beside him. Shego spoke up. "Hate to call an end to all the touchy-feely crap, but Kimmie and I really gotta get ready for the temple gathering tonight."

Yori nodded. "Ron-kun and I must also prepare. We will see you in a few hours." She bowed and started walking towards the door. Ron followed and soon Kim and Shego were alone.

"Now then," the green lady said. "What should we get you to wear tonight?"

* * *

Elsewhere in Zion, Morpheus got the feeling that something wonderful had just happened. He would have to see what it was later. Whatever it was, it brought a smile to his face. 

That smile quickly faded as he arrived at his destination. Opening the heavy metal door, he entered a rather cluttered and cramped office that belonged to one Commander Jason Locke. The years had not been kind to the Commander, as his grey hair and stress-wrinkled face attested. His face was in a permanent scowl from the years of stress that he had endured since the end of the first war and the beginning of the current one. His loathing for Morpheus was especially personal.

"Morpheus," he snarled as the bald Captain strode calmly into his lair.

"Commander Locke," Morpheus addressed his superior courteously. The bitter old man took it as an insult, however, gnashing his teeth and glaring at the Captain.

"What exactly are you planning to say tonight at the temple gathering?" he demanded.

"What I have said for the past seventeen gatherings," Morpheus replied calmly. "That Neo and Trinity died to save us, and that we must honor their memory."

"That's not what I meant," Locke spat venomously. "What do you plan on doing with Kim Possible?"

"I am not sure I understand your question."

Locke glared at the man before him. "You know damn well what I mean."

"She is The One. Naturally she is to be given some recognition."

"Dammit, Morpheus, that's not all she is!" Locke thundered as he banged his hands on his desk and stood to his feet. "She's not Neo, she's Smith!"

"Actually, Commander, she is half-Neo and half-Smith," Morpheus countered. (9)

"I don't care what the hell she is," the Commander snarled, leaning over his desk. "All I know is that she's a threat to the security of this city. You know what happened last time Smith took control of one of our people."

Morpheus nodded solemnly. "With all due respect, Commander, Bane did not have a choice in the matter. Kim can still resist Smith. Just earlier today she saved a boy from falling to certain death."

"I. Don't. Care," Locke growled. "I never cared about The One or the prophecy, even if Neo did save our asses. All I've ever cared about is this city, and the safety of the people in it. And as long as that monster roams the streets, I can't sleep, because I wonder just what's going to happen when she loses the will to resist." He sat back down and gestured for Morpheus to leave.

Just before he did, however, Morpheus turned around said seven simple words to the Commander: "And you wonder why she left you." (10)

With that, he walked out the door, leaving the Commander alone in his narrow-minded paranoia.

* * *

Kim sat on her bed, eyes closed. Shego had a surprise for her. As much as she hated not knowing, the fact that it was a gift was enough to have her trembling with excitement. This was their first date. She always got nervous before a first date. 

It was funny; in every other area of her life Kim was the girl who could do anything, confident and brave. But when it came to dating, she was the exact opposite. She was anxious and jittery. She shouldn't be; she loved Shego and the two of them had done quite a few "relationship" things already, but the importance of the first date was still enough to make her a little nervous. Okay, a lot nervous. As the seconds wore on, it was becoming more than she could handle.

"Are you ready yet?" she called to Shego.

"Just about," came the reply. Kim was finding it more and more difficult to keep her eyes closed. She had to know what the surprise was. Her entire body cried out to know the secret, but she remained steadfast. She wanted to show the older woman that she could be patient. But it was starting to become more trouble than it was worth.

"Alright, now no peeking," Shego's voice commanded as Kim heard the familiar footsteps of the pale woman entering the room. She did as promised and squeezed her eyelids shut, holding out her hands in anticipation. "Here." Kim felt some sort of fabric placed into her hands. "Now open your eyes."

Kim did as she was told, opening her eyes and looking down to the object in her lap. It was white; that was the first thing she noticed about it. It was also incredibly thin. She could see Shego through it as she held it up to her face. It was, however, thick enough in the right areas to allow her to maintain modesty. It was also made of a much finer material than the rough wool that composed her standard clothes. It was almost like silk. She was speechless. "Thank you," she managed.

"My pleasure," Shego replied with a grin.

"Why?" Kim asked, more out of curiosity than anything.

Shego smiled. "Don't tell me you forgot your own birthday, Princess."

Kim's eyes went wide. She had forgotten! So many things had been happening recently that she failed to realize the significance of this day until Shego pointed it out to her just now. She smiled and stood up, draping her arms around the green woman. "Well this is the best present I ever could have asked for."

"Why do I get the feeling you're not just talking about the dress?" Shego remarked before Kim closed the extremely short distance between their faces. The kiss was long and passionate, Kim's way of showing gratitude. They eventually broke the kiss out of a mutual need for air.

"I'm gonna go change," Kim whispered saucily. "Wait right here."

As the younger woman sauntered off towards the bathroom, Shego bit her lip. Who would have thought that someone so innocent could be so sexy?

* * *

"Tonight marks the nineteenth anniversary of the end of the war," Morpheus spoke in a booming voice as he addressed the entire adult population of Zion. "Even though we now find ourselves in a new conflict, the sacrifice that Neo and Trinity made to save us from certain death will never be forgotten." 

Behind Morpheus stood several of the other captains, as well as Commander Locke. Kim and Shego stood by Niobe, who was watching Morpheus intently.

Kim's dress had turned out to be far more revealing than she'd thought. She'd grown accustomed to midriff-baring outfits over the years, but this outfit showed off a little too much skin for her tastes. The top was composed of two triangles that covered her breasts and met right above her abdomen, tied in the back. Below that, she wore a very short skirt that showed off her impressive legs. She was barefoot.

Shego was even less conservatively dressed, wearing a green and black outfit that was so sheer that Kim could see her discolored nipples. She wasn't sure how she felt about that. Part of her was turned on by the sight, the other part wondered just how many other people were staring at her girlfriend. Jealousy had often found a home with Kim. It wasn't that she was envious; she'd just never learned to share.

"Tonight we honor two heroes whose sacrifice allows us to stand here today," Morpheus continued, snapping Kim out of her thoughts. "Tonight we remind the machines that we are forever free from their control. Tonight… we cherish the memory of Neo and Trinity, who gave their lives so that we might live."

"Overemphasis much?" Kim whispered to Shego, who snickered. Their giggling was quickly cut short by Niobe, who cast a withering glare in their direction.

"Tonight we honor their deaths, and celebrate the new life that we have found. The human race is slowly but surely becoming free, and it is because us that the machines are losing their iron grip! They have never taken this city, and as long as we believe, they never will!"

The crowd cheered. Kim had to admit that for all his overly dramatic mannerisms, the man sure could move a crowd.

"I believe!" Morpheus shouted. "I believe that it is not because of chance that we are here, but because of choice! Not because of luck are we free, but because others sacrificed their lives so that we might be free! I believe that our time will come again, and the machines. Will. FALL! Try as they might, they will never overcome us! I believe that we are the thorn in their side; the one thing they cannot remove no matter how hard they try! I believe… that each and every one of you… holds in your mind… the one thing that the machines can never take away!"

He paused for a moment, allowing the crowd to fill the silence with applause that disappeared the moment he raised his voice again.

"In The Matrix, anything is possible," he continued. "In The Matrix, we can be convinced that the old world still exists. They can blind us from the truth. They can take away our freedom of choice. They can make us believe anything they tell us to. But there is one thing they can never make us believe." The crowd leaned forward as he paused. "Try as they might, the machines can NEVER convince us that WE are not REAL!"

The crowd roared in approval. Shego even nodded in agreement.

"COGITO! ERGO! SUM! (11)" Morpheus finished, holding up his arms in victory. This elicited a massive cheer from the audience, and Morpheus walked off the stage with his arm outstretched, reaching back to his people.

The band to his right began to play, and all the citizens of Zion began to dance to the rhythm. Kim stood still for now, waiting for Shego to decide what they should do. The green lady smiled and grabbed her by the hand, leading the redhead down to what looked like the world's biggest rave.

Kim's heart began to dance along with the hundreds of thousands of people who lined the cave. The heat caused sweat to emerge from her pores, soaking her outfit and making it stick to her wet skin. She held on to Shego's hand, as though letting go would cause her to lose the pale woman forever.

Upon reaching a small clearing where they could dance, Shego turned around and moved her body close to Kim's, shaking her hips. The girl was a bit embarrassed at first, wondering if she should be doing this in front of so many people, but once she saw that everyone around her was doing the same, she began to loosen up and get into the rhythm. She smiled as she turned to the side and bumped Shego's hip with her own.

Halfway across the cave, another couple was also engaged in dancing. Yori was careful not to get too close to Ron due to his infamous tendency to step on her feet whenever they danced, but once he had gained her trust she moved closer to him, teasing him with the inches that separated her body from his. Yori was not necessarily chaste, but she did have a sense of honor that was difficult to get past.

Still, she was less awkward than Ron, who was trying his hardest not to look at the dark nipples that could be clearly seen through Yori's sweat-soaked top. Even though he was more than familiar with those features of his lover, he still had enough respect for her not to gawk. There was time for that kind of fun later. Right now he had to focus on dancing.

Kim was just as hesitant as Ron, but found herself staring at Shego anyway because the pale seductress was way more forward than Yori. Shego's entire body swayed as she rocked back and forth, moving in time with the tantric beat that Kim was starting to lose herself in. It was strangely mesmerizing, and she felt herself thinking less and reacting more to the green woman's advances.

Grabbing Kim's wrists, Shego pulled the girl in closer and planted a kiss on her lips as she bucked her hips forward and brought their centers into contact. The rush of pleasure that Kim experienced caused her to shudder, goose-bumps popping up all over her sweaty skin. Her breath stuttered, and her eyes rolled into the back of her head as she embraced the moment of pure ecstasy.

Yori turned around, allowing Ron to come up from behind. Grabbing his wrists, the ninja rubbed his hands up and down the front of her body, stopping on the twin mounds that he had been trying not to focus on. Seeing that his lover wanted him there, however, Ron squeezed just enough to cause Yori to buck her hips backwards into a part of his anatomy that was becoming increasingly hard.

Ron moved his hands down to Yori's hips, holding her steady as she ground her body against his. He exhaled on her cheek, and the dark-haired girl reached behind her and grabbed his head, pulling him in for a kiss that they held as she turned around to face him once more. Their hips moved in unison, colliding in time with the beat.

Kim didn't know what sex was supposed to feel like, but this was pretty damn close. Really close, in fact. It got even closer when Shego reached her hand inside Kim's top and gave one of her breasts a squeeze. The younger woman fought the urge to cry out as waves of pleasure surged through her. She opened her eyes and gazed upon the older woman with hunger. She moved her hands from their current spot on Shego's lower back down to the pale woman's perfectly formed ass, where she gave a tight squeeze.

Shego let out a loud moan, signaling to Kim that her efforts had been successful. The green woman pulled her in closer, splitting her mouth with that sharp cherry tongue and eagerly exploring her throat. Kim was all too happy to do the same.

Ron and Yori had started to move away from the crowd, towards the edges where they could make a hasty escape from the scene to satisfy a desire that both of them seemed to have. Their faces were locked; seemingly inseparable. And yet nobody noticed, which made it all too easy to slip back to their apartment.

Yori's top was easily cast aside the moment they crossed the threshold, followed quickly by her very short skirt. Ron's clothes came off next, and by the time they reached the bed they were completely nude.

Falling back supine, Yori beckoned Ron with a raised index finger that curled back towards her. The blonde was all too happy to comply, mounting her and attacking her with his lips once more. He took the top position, a rare position of power that he savored every moment of. The foreplay had been taken care of on the way over; the couple just got straight to business.

Ron was by no means a stud, but he was large enough to fill his lover, whose lack of experience before the blonde made her rather tight. Stoppable was all too happy to loosen her up. With Yori's nod of approval, he moved forward, eliciting a cry from the dark-haired girl that brought him a sense of satisfaction.

It wasn't their first time doing this, but there was a certain magic in the significance of this night that made their embrace more passionate than it had ever been before. Yori was making a number of delighted sounds; the feeling of being emptied then filled and then emptied again was driving her crazy. She let loose a long wail as Ron hit the jackpot, giving her another orgasm with each thrust.

Back at the temple, Kim was experiencing pleasure of her own, though it had not developed into sex just yet. But the mutual fondling suggested that the girl's innocence was no longer intact. Not that she cared. All that mattered right now was Shego. She lost herself in the sights, the smell, the sounds, the taste of the older woman who was working her like an accordion and bringing her to the edge of orgasm without even moving her hands south of the border, except perhaps to give Kim's bubble butt a tight squeeze.

The night began to drag on as Kim lost herself in the beat. She was operating on instinct. Not thinking; reacting. There was a certain sensuality to all of this, and her rational side was being pushed away in favor of her animal desires that ran purely on lust and hunger, which were indistinguishable at the moment. Her hands moved up and down Shego's sweaty body, and the same was done to her by the woman she loved. It felt good.

Really good.

Really, really good.

Kim let loose a loud shriek as Shego's center touched hers, causing her to climax. Shego bumped her again, bringing forth another scream. The sounds of passion were drowned out by the crowd, who failed to notice the two of them as they became one. Kim thrust her neck forwards and met Shego's lips, attempting to swallow the older woman whole.

Yes, this was it. This was what she wanted. All the troubles of the world faded away as she danced with Shego, losing herself in the passion. She could think about it tomorrow. She had all the time in the world. She wanted this moment to last forever; this moment to define their relationship from this point forward. Kim loved Shego. Shego loved Kim. And that was all that mattered.

* * *

_1. Mercutio was Romeo's best friend in Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet." When he confronted Tybalt (and made a complete ass of himself in the process), he was stabbed, and died with everyone laughing at him, thinking it was a joke. Ron seems to have a similar problem._

_2. For those of you who have trouble visualizing, I used Ghost's Zen garden from the "Enter the Matrix" video game as a reference point for this arena. _

_3. A Japanese garment that functions similarly to a robe._

_4. A sash worn with a kimono._

_5. Wide-legged pants._

_6. A very large Japanese sword that was said to have been designed to be used against cavalry, although it was rarely used for that purpose because not only were they difficult to wield and even more difficult to make given Japan's limited supply of iron, but also because pole weapons like the naginata and nagamaki served the same purpose much more efficiently. Fittingly, the name translates to "field sword," although some linguists claim that it shares the same root as "__ōdachi,__" which means "large/great sword." Sasaki Kojiro is said to have been a master of the nodachi, and is somewhat famous for losing to Musashi Miyamoto, whom some say was the greatest swordsman who ever lived._

_7. Interesting note about the Katana: the sword was originally called a "tachi" when it was worn with the hilt down, then became a Katana when worn with the hilt up. It is a rather trivial detail, but I thought it was cool. _

_8. The witch in Hansel and Gretel was defeated when Gretel tricked her into bending over to check the oven, then pushed her into the oven and cooked her alive. Fairy tales are actually disturbingly violent when you think about it._

_9. Another line lifted from Classic Cowboy. Consider it an homage._

_10. That's the last one, I swear. Classic Cowboy's Matrix crossover was too good not to steal from._

_11. I think; therefore I am._

_End Notes:_

_Whew! Glad that's done. This is the fastest I have ever achieved fifty thousand words with a story, and the fastest I have ever written a chapter of this length. And to think that I've written stories shorter than some of the scenes in here. It shows how far I've come as a writer. _

_Excuse the self-congratulatory remarks above. I tend to get a big head. I think it's justified in this case. This chapter was a labor of love, and I doubt any of the subsequent chapters will match it. Still, hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it._

**beeftony**


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